Team JAQK Act 2: It's Always Sunny in Paradise
by TheTragicNoir
Summary: What happens when Team RWBY is forced to cooperate with a team of criminals to solve a mystery? A series of problems around Mistral. Two weeks before traveling Atlas, RWBY and company must discover a series of kidnappings around the city while getting the help of unexpected allies. This is one of many other stories in Remnant. (Canon Related, set between V5 and V6)
1. A Divided House

**Disclaimer: RWBY Characters, places and terminologies with the exception of the Original Characters, belongs to Rooster Teeth Productions.**

* * *

In the dark woods about an hour away from Mistral, there were noises coming out of a distant inn. Furniture was being destroyed, and lights were shaking, sending rays of light from the windows which made it hard to look at from the outside. There was already havoc. As the noises were slowly getting quieter and sudden darkness engulfed the interior, things went from bad to worse.

Someone was thrown out of the second floor with unimaginable force until they landed on the ground not too far from the building. He looked severely beaten, almost hard to believe that he was still breathing. He had a black eye, busted lips and a plethora of other injuries. No one went easy on him, that's for sure.

Two more people went flying from the windows too, but they fell from the first floor this time and didn't look as bad as the one before them, who fell from the second floor. They tried to get back on their feet but were barely able to stand upright. They were terrified. As soon as they looked back at the Inn, they couldn't see their attackers. They just grabbed their weapons from the ground as fast as they could, but before they knew it, someone lunged a flying kick at one of them.

The person beside him tried to defend himself by using his sword. As soon as he gathered enough strength to pick it up, someone shot at his hand and made him drop it. He drew out another smaller gun from his back, but someone behind him struck him with a powerful headbutt, bludgeoning half of his skull. He got knocked out and presumably suffered a concussion.

The guy who received a flying kick climbed on the ground trying to reach his friend's pistol, but someone stepped on his arm and kicked the gun away from him. The person looked up to see his attackers, four of them surrounded him in a circle with fierce eyes. They looked at the beaten guy, breathing in and out while trying to beg for mercy. It was apparent he couldn't speak. It was silent despair. The attackers looked at each other, going over what they were about to do to him.

After they were done discussing among themselves, the attackers settled on an agreement. The leader walked away, leaving the other three with devilish smiles. The big guy with the scar stomped the poor guy's face, knocking him out. An audible crunch could be heard that probably shattered his skull. Everything went black with nothing but noises from the four attackers' fading away into the woods.

* * *

Two hours ago, 7:44 pm that same day, back at Haven Academy a group of people stood inside the Headmaster's office. There was silence, the clock on the wall was the only thing making noise by ticking on each second. Three teenage girls, a boy sitting in the Headmaster's chair and an adult man standing next to the boy remained silent. The three girls were members of Team RWBY. They finally reunited after several months. The last time they saw each other was during the Fall of Beacon. Sadly, there was a very sour feeling in the air rather than that of a heartwarming reunion.

Blake Belladonna, a cat Faunus in the group was just informed about everything that happened while she was gone. Things about Salem and her group, the Maidens, Relics and how all this led to the recent attack at Haven. "So, it is true?" She was the first one to break the silence.

"I'm afraid so, Miss Belladonna. I know it's a lot to handle, but it was for the best to catch you up to speed." Professor Ozpin, the former headmaster of Beacon and currently possessing the body of a farm boy, Oscar Pine, spoke with an apologetic tone.

"And that's probably as far as they got. We were lucky my sister didn't want to fight Yang when she reached the vault. Could have turned out a lot worse. " The man standing next to Ozpin was Qrow Branwen, professional Huntsman, commenting on the outcome.

"Indeed, our victory was nothing but a stroke of luck in our favor. If I'm honest with all of you, our performance was questionable at best. While we have the upper hand now, I can say that no one, including myself, is in any shape to fight against Salem and her group." Ozpin's voice spoke as he facepalmed out of sheer embarrassment.

"What about the Relic? Can we put it back to the vault?" Ruby Rose, leader of Team RWBY asked the former headmaster with a confused expression.

"Without the Spring Maiden, it's impossible to seal it again. Although, our victory ensures that they won't bother us for a short while at least. The best solution, for now, is to keep it in the house until we can think of a better place to put it." Qrow explained as he held up the weird-looking lamp in his left hand.

"You can do whatever you want with it. I'll go see how Weiss and the others are doing." Yang Xiao Long, the strongest member of Team RWBY, stood up and walked towards the door.

"Wait, Yang!" Blake went after the blonde girl. She didn't stop and simply slammed the door shut right in front of the Faunus' face. "She's still mad at me, huh?" She remarked in a moody tone.

"Yeah, I thought the group hug from last night would have made her mellow down, but I guess she just didn't want to ruin the mood." Ruby tried to cheer up her teammate, without much result.

"I can't blame her…it was my fault to begin with. And after she found out I let Adam get away, she just started ignoring me entirely."

"I'm sure she'll get over it. She isn't the type of person to hold grudges against anyone. For the most part. I think." There was doubt in Ruby's voice. She tried to change the topic to lighten Blake's mood. "So where are Sun and Ilia right now?"

"Sun is at Mistral's main gate waiting for his team to get back. They've come across some inconveniences on their way here early today. Ilia is with my parents helping around, as a way to atone for all the trouble she caused at Menagerie." Even with the change of topic, the Cat Faunus was still far from happy and with even more things on her mind. She opened the door and left the room as well.

"Where are you going?" Ruby asked.

"I need to see my parents, we're trying to organize a party for the New White Fang. I'll meet you later at the house, whenever I have time. See you around." The Faunus left the room without much to say, leaving Ruby alone in the room with Ozpin and Qrow.

They noticed the team leader was in an awkward position that her team wasn't fully reunited yet. Ruby let out a weak chuckle, but it was easy to see that not everything was back to normal. She tried to think about how to make her sister and her friend get along again. "Not easy to be a leader, huh?" Qrow said to his niece.

"Yeah. It's hard. I bet stuff like this happened all the time in your team, right Uncle Qrow?"

"Well, Summer tried her best to keep us in high spirits. Hasn't always worked but at the end of the day we somehow managed to work together like always."

"Although I suggest you go see them and talk. I'm sure all of you'll get back on track in no time." Ozpin's voice of assurance inspired the young Huntress to not give up.

"Thank you, Professor, I guess I'll go back home and check up on the team. I'm sure we'll work it out in no time." Ruby left in high spirits, trying to keep a smile as she left the office. Ozpin and Qrow were the only ones inside now. They flipped their smiles into grimaces. Qrow sighed as he looked at the floor.

"So, what do you think?"

"About what?" Ozpin replied.

"About Lionheart, with him dead we can't leave Mistral until the council chooses a new Headmaster."

"Even if it's unlikely for Salem to attack again in such a short amount of time, our problems here aren't over yet."

"No kidding, Oz, a lot of good Huntsmen died cause of Lionheart's actions, but a lot of them are still MIA."

"Yeah, we can't leave until we find them. Even if there aren't any missing students, it still isn't enough to keep Haven safe." Ozpin said while inspecting a list of all the Haven students on it.

"And that's not all, I heard rumors that civilians are going missing while exploring the city." Both men sighed at how exhausting the situation was, especially after the thwarted invasion from the previous day.

"Well, I'll inform both teams and try to make it discreet for the rest of Haven's Students. We have to get as much help as possible. As for the Relic, we could leave it at the house, but someone has to always stay and guard it."

"I was thinking we could hide it in the outer limits of the city. Maybe like a cave or something." Qrow tried to make a suggestion, only to have Ozpin reply by shaking his head.

"Sorry, but I wouldn't advise it. We don't know if any of them are still in Mistral. Although, we should try to get a safe, just for starters." Qrow nodded. He started walking out of the office while looking at his Scroll for any more news. "One more thing. It isn't much to ask but could you please try to put those teenagers back into shape. We can't continue our journey until everyone is doing their best, physically and mentally."

"I agreed, luck won't be on our side the next time we fight Salem's people. Luck was never on my side anyway…" Qrow said with a grim look on his face. He left Ozpin alone in the office. His eyes stopped glowing as he handed back the controls to Oscar. They discussed some things in their mind.

"I guess I will have to train too, huh?" Oscar said with an unconfident tone.

" _We can't afford to take any more lucky shots. From now on, we have greater responsibilities, now that you know the dangers her group is capable of._ " Ozpin's voice spoke to the young farmer. Both tried to reflect on the situation. _"Consider yourself fortunate that you are in a capable company. You'll learn it a lot faster."_

"I guess, I didn't have many friends back home…"

" _You would be surprised by the kind of people I met over the years,"_ Ozpin said sarcastically.

* * *

Not too far from Haven Academy, in a big and comfortable house inhabited by team RWBY and JNR as well as Qrow and Oscar, Ruby entered the house to see her sister Yang. An inseparable couple of Ren and Nora were sitting in the living room while watching the Mistral News Network hosted by the local reporter Kira Kikyo. She was covering the battle at Haven from last night. Between that and the Faunus crowd led by Ghira Belladonna, it made everyone tired. It was the only thing they showed that whole day.

Ruby walked towards her friends. They noticed some sort of turmoil in her eyes. "So, how is Weiss doing? Is she fine?" The hooded girl asked as casually as she knew how.

"Jaune is with her in her room applying for some medicine the doctors gave her," Yang replied to her younger sister.

"Medicine? Can't Jaune just use his Semblance to patch her up?"

"While Jaune's new Semblance may have saved Weiss from that injury, it was necessary to apply for some medicine just in case she suffered any more damage to her internal organs." The ever-quiet Ren explained the situation. Ruby found it rather interesting.

"Really? I didn't know there was medicine for that!"

"We were supposed to learn that back at Beacon. It was supposed to be our first class right after the Vytal Festival was over." As Ren mentioned it, everyone drew a distinct expression and not a very happy one. It's been a long time since that fateful day.

"Oh-Reeeeeenn~, could you change channels? This is getting booooring!" Nora was yawning in front of her boyfriend. He complied and put on something else. A boring soap opera but still better than nothing.

"As I was saying, while Aura can heal surface injuries like bruises or cuts that aren't deep, if you've been impaled or stabbed in a vital organ you need medical attention, no matter how much Aura you use. Jaune just awakened his Semblance, so we can't be as relieved as we thought we could."

"That applies to amputations as well…" Yang added to the explanation. "…Even if my Aura stopped the bleeding, it doesn't mean I didn't need to wrap it with bandages before it could get infected."

"By the way, where's Blake?" Ren asked.

"She told me that she needs to help her parents prepare for a party, do you think we're invited? Sounds like we could have some fun after our victory."

"Define 'victory'. We didn't stop them for good, Ruby." Yang said with a bitter look.

"I know we didn't do well but we're all still alive, aren't we?" Ruby tried to bring some positivity into their lives, but there was some awkward silence in the room. "I…I'll go upstairs and see how Weiss and Jaune are doing." She walked slowly toward the stairs as everyone focused their gazes on the show. As soon the hooded girl left, Yang's left hand started to shake uncontrollably. She was getting annoyed by it.

"Are the shakes coming back?" Nora asked Yang.

"Yeah, I thought I've had it under control."

"Have you considered seeing a therapist after coming to Mistral?" Ren asked.

"No, I didn't think I'd need one." She tried to stop her left arm from shaking by holding it with her right. "Do you know anyone?"

"Not really, but I'm sure you can find one around."

"I'll try to find one tomorrow, thanks for the tip, Ren." Yang started to look for a therapist in the city through her Scroll. From all the results, she found one not too far from the house. He was located close to the Market District. Good results and recommendations convinced the blonde girl to go seek him out. "Dr. Lawrence Carmine, huh? I hope he's as good as they say." She mumbled as she continued to watch the show.

Ruby was opening the bedroom without making any noise. She saw Jaune sitting in a chair while using a wet stone to sharpen his sword. Weiss was on the bed reading a magazine. Not the most productive thing to do, Ruby thought. "How are you feeling?" She asked her partner.

"I feel like a spear just went through me… oh wait, it really did." The former heiress said with her usual snarky tone. Still, for her to even make such jokes so early was a good sign that she was doing well. "The doctors said the medicine should be enough. I'll probably be able to walk tomorrow. Another battle scar, I guess."

"That's good to hear. I guess Jaune finally became your knight in shiny armor, right?" Ruby tried to bring in a more positive mood, but Jaune wasn't paying attention. He was lost in thought as he sharpened his sword repeatedly. "Um, Jaune? Are you alright?" Ruby tried to talk to him, but he didn't reply.

"Hey, Vomit Boy!" Weiss raised her voice at him and he finally reacted.

"Huh? What…? What's up?" The blond guy responded.

"Is everything fine? You were spacing out for a moment."

"It's… uh, nothing…" He mumbled, the girls exchanged worried glances to one another.

"You know you can talk to us if something is bothering you, right?"

"I'm fine, I'll be down with the others if you need me." Jaune stood up from his chair and left the room. He was in a pretty downer mood. Ruby was alarmed. He's been like this since last night.

"Him too, huh…?"

"Him too?" Weiss asked.

"He, Blake, and Yang have been like this the whole day. That can't be a good sign. I thought that now that we're all together, we'd all be happy." Ruby said with a long face.

"It's been a long day, we're just tired and exhausted. I think if we just got some sleep, then maybe, just maybe we would stop being so mean to one another." Weiss tried to lift Ruby's morale in her own way, the Ice Queen Way. She leaned towards the hooded girl and firmly hugged her.

"Aww, I thought you wouldn't allow me to touch you~."

"Just this once. And don't try to squish me too tight, alright? My wound still hurts." Weiss warned Ruby not to ruin the moment. The mood felt a lot warmer with a hug from the coldest person in Mistral. They stopped hugging and Ruby decided to let the former heiress rest just a little while longer.

She sat in front of a desk. With a stack of paper and a pile of pens on the table, she grabbed one of each with her left hand and started writing a letter addressed to her dad. She tried to think about what to write besides what happened yesterday. Her mind was blank. She didn't want to worry him even more. It's been a while since her last letter arrived.

Ruby couldn't find the right words to write down. She sighed and put the paper and pen away. She turned off the desk lamp and gazed through the window. She saw the bright moon in the dark sky. It was facing her from the intact side. She admired it even more without the floating pieces. It made her feel strange. How something that was destroyed and torn asunder ages ago could from time to time still look so… breathtaking. As if nothing ever happened to it. She was hoping that the next day would be a brighter tomorrow for everyone.

* * *

Under the same sky not too far from Mistral, inside an Inn, a chatty concoction of noises was coming from the second floor. The four members of Team JAQK with Lucy and Saber were in the room talking about their findings and misadventures, catching up on all the things that happened between The Vytal Festival and now. Jack, the team leader, was the first to finish his story in regards the mysterious assassin Sal. The next one in line was Quinn, the bruiser, who was done explaining his bad luck after escaping Atlas and crashing in an abandoned airship with a fellow escapee. Lastly, Ace and Diamo told their side of the tale at Forever Falls, where they dealt with a crazy Anti-Faunus cult and received the help of another Huntsman team and a small White Fang group that got involved.

All crazy stories. They did their best to gather any clues, but without any success.

"Okay, I guess we've heard enough. So, none of you were able to get anything that might help us?" Jack asked his team, all of them pointed their eyes to the ceiling.

"Well, we got these documents from Copper…" Ace explained while showing a folder, it included a lot of classified crossed out info and old pictures.

"That's not enough! We can't get any concrete evidence from that. That's military grade Dust infused ink. It's so useless now you can't even use it as toilet paper!" Quinn criticized the happy-go-lucky guy.

"We retrieved some raw Silverium. What did you get? Petty revenge and getting owned by General Ironwood?" Diamo scolded Quinn's actions. Everyone considered it as a stupid idea, maybe even stupider than Ace's.

"Shut it, Four-Eyes! I gave Zinc what he deserves and brought his actions to Ironwood's attention. I bet he's now trying to investigate him and the rest of remaining scientists from the Atlas Division too! So, I was the one who did most of the work here!"

"Did you? How so?"

"I got General Tinman busy enough to focus on them rather than sending his toy soldiers after us! That's what I did!" Quinn defended his actions, no one was able to stop mentioning how bad the idea was.

"Well, you didn't do a great job, seeing as someone just tried to kill Jack on our way here!" Lucy joined the conversation. She was worried about her boyfriend.

"No, this isn't the case," Jack interjected. Everyone looked at the cowboy with confusion.

"What do you mean, bro?" Ace asked.

"I don't believe Sal was someone from the Atlas Military or even any Huntsmen organization." The Leader gave everyone his own piece of mind. It made the others wonder as well.

"So what can be the link between this assassin and Atlas?" Diamo wondered as he adjusted his glasses.

"If this guy was really from Atlas, he wouldn't go after me without a small capture unit. Odds are he'd probably just apprehend me for interrogation. Assassination doesn't seem to be Ironwood's style."

"So, you think that A-hole is part of the people who set you up back at Vale?" Quinn was in the dark too, but Diamo was shaking his head in disagreement.

"I'm not so sure, if he was one of their people, then they wouldn't need to blame you in the first place. That would raise more questions than answers."

"Dude, this is such a mess. Why is it so hard to figure out who's after us!?" Ace took off his bandana and scratched his head. "Are we at least safe from Mr. 'Coming-for-your-life'?"

"We don't know where he could be, but he won't bother us for a while. Seriously, that guy was creeping me out." Lucy said while petting Saber under the table, the husky reacted with a whine.

"If he is no longer pestering us, that should give us enough time to ditch this place and hide in the city like rats," Quinn commented as he chugged more liquor down his throat.

"Which brings me to our second point. How's our budget?" Jack asked everyone with a grimace. All of them pulled out their wallets left them on the table where everyone can see them. Their total sum as a group combined was so low that they didn't even bother to count.

"Well…this is just pathetic," Quinn commented with a sigh.

"How exactly are we gonna to survive? No money or a place to sleep…" Diamo mumbled while rubbing his eyes.

"Partner, Lucy, don't you have people living in the city?" Ace asked the two, but they weren't completely sure about it.

"Ace, you know that my friends won't give us shelter, much less in the district they live in. And you probably wouldn't like to be in the same house with my blind uncle. He doesn't like visitors." Diamo expressed more concern for the team than his family and friends.

"Yeah, and my father's house is way too small for us. You would tear each other to shreds." Lucy remarked, cutting their options for sleep down to zero.

"No money, or roof, huh? The most we can do for now is head to the city and try to get some jobs." Jack suggested a solution, which made Ace frown.

"Do we have to? Work sounds like such a drag. " The talkative guy said while sighing in disappointment.

"No complaints, dumbass!" Quinn berated Ace, who was behaving like a spoiled child.

"Even with jobs, we wouldn't have enough Lien to even rent anything. Staying in an Inn or hotel would be expensive since we don't know how long we're staying." Diamo pointed out a few caveats of the plan. They were feeling desperate. Every option only brought more trouble and planning wasn't as simple as they thought.

Quinn was tapping his fingers on the table, making a rather annoying noise that started bothering him, so he stopped. He slowly scratched behind his left ear while he was lost in thought. He accidentally hit his earring. He finally realized something crucial. "Guys, I think I have the answer to our problem." He spoke clearly, trying to gain everyone's attention.

"What is it, Q?" Jack asked his partner. He took off his earring and put it on the center of the table. Everyone was shocked by his offer. "Your family earring? Are you sure about this?"

"Seriously, how much is it even worth?" Ace followed as well.

"I don't know, but damn enough to get us somewhere a place to stay for at least a month and maybe some supplies," Quinn explained the jewel's value. He knew that it was for the best. The team couldn't believe he would give up the most precious memento of his family.

"Even if you pawn it, do you know anyone who could accept it?" The guy with glasses curiously asked the bruiser.

"Do you remember the guy who sent me stuff back at Atlas Academy?"

"Oh yeah, that guy…what was his name again?" Ace wasn't paying attention as he was playing with the husky under the table.

"His name is Rusty, you dimwit. He owns a pawn shop in this city."

"And do you think this guy would buy it for a large sum?" Jack asked while trying to think on another important topic.

"I knew him for quite some time now. I wager he would."

"Alright, then that settles it. Now, Lucy and I got news that Haven Academy got invaded last night. Do any of you know what that's about?" Jack asked everyone as he pulled out his Scroll for more info, but the signal was rather weak.

"Oh yeah, from what I heard from that cute waitress, some criminals broke in and fought some huntsmen inside. We don't know exactly who they were, but a large mob of Faunus came to help and stop a White Fang invasion." Ace explained in quick detail the intel he recently got.

"Any casualties?" Jack asked.

"Nothing too big. The only casualty was Haven's Headmaster. He was found dead in his office. There aren't any details for the cause of death, but it's safe to assume it happened during the attack." Diamo explained as he was reading an article from his Scroll.

"And that's just the beginning of our problems. After that shit-show, security around the city has increased and now there are guards all around the main gate, checking every damn person who wants to enter." Quinn interjected.

"That would be troublesome for us. In that case, we can't go through the main gate." Jack tried to think of other possibilities while looking at Mistral's map on his Scroll.

"So far, all other entrances are very few and far apart. Another option is to fly over the walls and get in, but that could attract attention and scare a lot of people."

The leader realized as he looked at his teammate with glasses. He was the one with the most knowledge about the city.

"Diamo…" Jack called out. "…Do you know any other entrances into the city?"

"Actually, I think I do. It's been a long time, but I know a way we can get through the walls without being detected."

"That's the spirit! Where exactly is this secret passage? Come on, tell me, tell me!" Ace was getting overly excited, so much so that it annoyed Quinn just enough to dope-slap him.

"To be honest, I don't think most of you will like it."

"Just spit it out already!" Quinn was getting impatient.

"The entry is through the sewers…" After Diamo said the way to go to Mistral, everyone went silent.

"Are you kidding me? Out of all the ludicrous places, it had to be the fricking sewers!" Quinn didn't like it one bit.

"It's our safest route to the city. It's usually guarded by Huntsmen, but now it's probably just abandoned. Going through it we can avoid security and then exit through the center of the city, close to the Market District." Diamo was done explaining the route, at which point Lucy recognized the location.

"The Market District? My father lives there!" She expressed with assurance which made the cowboy think even more about the situation.

"I see, if he lives there, then we can hide without issues before doing anything else." Diamo expressed in a positive manner.

"If that's the case, then our best chance to go and hide is tonight," Jack said to the team, which no one seemed to have a problem with.

"Everyone on board?" Ace asked while raising his hand. Everyone raised their hand. Even Saber raised her paw in agreement. "Alright, let's roll on!" As soon as they were done the voting, they stood up and packed their belonging to start their trip to Mistral.

"One thing, even if Lucy's dad or Diamo's friends won't let us stay for long, at least try to ask for one night until we get ourselves a house," Jack asked for one last thing before wrapping everything up.

"Don't sweat it, I'm sure we'll get something as soon as we get…" Ace was about to exit the door, only to get stopped in his tracks by a strange group of people blocking their exit. "Can we help you with anything? We were just about to leave." The chatty guy asked the people, but they didn't look friendly as they walked into the room.

Everyone felt that they looked like trouble as soon as they saw them. They were wearing purple clothes and had parts of their bodies adorned with spider tattoos. They looked as if they belonged to the same group. They looked better equipped than bandits for sure but not as good as professional Huntsmen. Three of them were blocking the door and they looked menacing, as could be expected from these types of locales.

"Of course you can help us." Said one of them. "We don't like tourists coming into our territory without paying a small entrance fee. 2,000 Lien per person, dogs cost extra." Team JAQK weren't happy that a bunch of thugs was trying to shake them for the little money they had right now.

"And who the hell are you guys? Border control? Get the hell out of our way, palooka!" Quinn yelled at the thugs, warning them in his own signature way.

"So, you're not gonna pay? I don't know how you handle things back home, but here things tend to get ugly. And I'm talking Rat Faunus levels of ugly." Two of them stepped forward to threaten the group. Quinn and Ace stepped in front of Jack while Diamo, Lucy and Saber were safe behind their leader. "So we're going with ugly, huh? Sick 'em, boys!" The third guy ordered the others and they rushed at Ace and Quinn.

Ace side-stepped and put his foot in the way to trip one of the attackers and make him fall to the floor. Quinn didn't move when he got punched in the face, but the impact dislocated the attacker's own hand. Quinn felt generous and decided to only punch the attacker in the stomach. They backed off a little. They were astonished to see what they can do.

"Huge mistake, cowboy." The third guy pulled out a gun to shoot at Jack, but he blocked swiftly it with his right palm, making the bullet ricochet into the ceiling. Peace talks have ceased and they were now engaged in a battle within the Inn. Quinn performed a quick rush attack, throwing two of them from the second floor onto the first one. Ace followed them as well to join the fight downstairs.

"Diamo, take Lucy and Saber out of here, we'll take care of this."

"Roger that." The sniper obeyed his Leader's order and they left the room. Jack started fighting the remaining gangster on the second floor. The cowboy threw a barrage right hooks at the guy with the spider tattoo, but he swiftly dodged his attacks. He tried to use a bowie knife, but Jack parried it with his left hand while countering with the other. Soon they started causing as much mayhem as the ones on the first floor.

Quinn was dealing with one that continuously tried to punch him. It started getting harder to move. His Aura was being charged by his Semblance, making him heavier in the process. He briefly deactivated it and grabbed one of his arms to throw him against a table. The table broke into pieces and fell to the ground. One tried to stab Quinn in the back, but Ace came to the rescue with a swift kick to the spider's hand to make him drop the knife.

The one on the floor stood up to drag Ace to the bar while Quinn had to the deal with the other one. The bruiser activated his Aura one second before his opponent punched him in the face again. This time the guy used a brass knuckle to avoid breaking his hand. Quinn grabbed him from by the throat and threw him at Ace. The speedster reacted quickly by kicking his opponent and making both of the goons collide into one another.

Jack was getting exhausted with dealing with the opponent. He wasn't really in fighting shape at the moment. In the heat of the moment, the thug managed to get past the cowboy's defenses and get close enough to grab his revolver. After getting some distance between them, he tried to fire a round at the exhausted cowboy. As he pulled the trigger with all his strength, he felt that it refused to move. No matter how much force he applied, the trigger wouldn't even budge. In frustration, he threw the entire gun at the exhausted cowboy, only to miss and send it flying through the window.

Jack tried his best to avoid every single attack but felt that his Aura couldn't withstand much more damage. As the guy with the spider tattoo kicked him against the table, Jack grabbed it by the edge and smacked him with at full force. It made the thug lose focus as the cowboy tried to approach him.

The spider tried to punch Jack in his concussed state. The cowboy used his Semblance to move behind the spider and hastily grabbing him to perform a painful suplex. Dizzy and in awe from the guy with the robotic arm, the thug tried to stand up and use a chair to attack him. Jack rushed towards him with a megaton punch. Time seemed to slow down as the robotic fist was getting closer and closer, breaking the chair into pieces while going through the thug's guard.

The cowboy delivered a powerful strike to the spider's face which sent him flying through the window, falling to the ground of the second floor. Jack dispatched one of them. He was now trying to catch his breath. He decided to leave the room and see how well the others were doing on the first floor.

Quinn grabbed a barrel full of grog and lunged it at one of the thugs while he was still on the ground. Ace used his Semblance to cover his Aura in a white glow and began sliding on the floor, dodging another thug's punches as if he was skating on ice. "Hey Quinn, shouldn't you finish those guys outside?" Ace yelled to the bruiser across the place.

"Bring it on! I was starting to get bored of these clowns!" Quinn got into position and pushed his opponent at Ace and the other goon close to the door. With liquor spilled all over the floor, Ace took the chance and shot an ice projectile from his main weapon, freezing the grog and making a slippery surface for the thugs. They took the opportunity and both fugitives charged against them.

Ace went in with a lateral kick while Quinn ramped at one of them with a tackle. Both of their strengths combined were enough to throw the thugs out of the Inn through the windows. Everything went dark inside as the lights went out. Lucy was the one who took out the fuses from outside, hoping to give the team a combat advantage. It was a little too late for that.

"Guys…" Jack called out for his brother and partner. "Let's get out of this place, check whatever those guys have in their pockets and let's head to the main entrance, ASAP!" They nodded to their team Leader as they left the Inn in the cover of darkness.

Ace noticed one of the thugs outside was trying to get up, he reacted quickly and delivered the thug a flying kick. The other thug tried to use his sword, but Diamo saw him just in time and used his service pistol to disarm him. It wasn't enough as the same thug had a holstered gun on his back. Quinn had enough of this nonsense, so he grabbed that guy and headbutted him out of commission.

The last conscious thug who Ace kicked was crawling on the ground, trying to reach the other thug's gun but was caught by the cowboy. Jack stomped on his hand and kicked the gun away from him. "Huge mistake, little spider…" Jack said to the thug on the ground. The rest of the team surrounded him, instilling fear into his very soul. "If you try to get near us ever again, I'll throw you into the Grimm-infested woods and you'll end up in itsy bitsy pieces. Understood?" The thug nodded in terror while the cowboy looked at the bruiser and walked away.

"Goodnight, sucker…" Quinn proceeded to kick the thug in the face, leaving him unconscious. With no other enemies in the area, team JAQK started looting their defeated enemies for some extra Lien. Jack went to retrieve his revolver that the thug threw out of the window. He was relieved to find it in a good shape. Atlas engineering at it's finest. Diamo walked towards the door and left some money for the drinks and snacks. It was a polite thing to do, although he wasn't sure it would cover the expenses for the busted windows and all the holes they left on the floor.

In the dark woods, the group walked closely along the road heading to Mistral, the city known all over Remnant as the 'Paradise of Vice'. They weren't sure what they might encounter, but soon they came to learn that this was only the beginning of their problems.

* * *

 **Hello everyone, you may wonder how this story is all about. To put it simply, this takes on a gap between Volumes 5 and 6 with everything in the main show's continuity. This is going to be longer than previous stories since it is a longer cast with different situations. I waited so long for this and I hope you enjoy it as much I did writing it.**

 **Also, I do have Twitter for future updates. It is TheTragicNoir, just the same.**


	2. A Divided House II

**Hello, I am here again to tell you about the updates for the story will happen regularly for grammar on future chapters. Also, new chapters are going to add in a span of one to two weeks. Check periodically for more chapters and free welcome to leave a comment.**

 **Disclaimer: RWBY Characters, places and terminologies with the exception of the Original Characters, belongs to Rooster Teeth Productions.**

* * *

"What a load of baloney!" Quinn yelled as he and the rest of the group headed to Mistral.

"Tell me about it. I'd only give them two stars. The cute waitress was nice." Ace's comment made the rest of the group looking at him with unamused eyes and the bruiser smacking him on the back of his head.

"Not that, you moron! I meant that we didn't even arrive in the city yet and we already have people asking for trouble! Who the hell were those guys anyway?" Quinn asked the sniper as they walked.

"Those guys belong to a local gang situated in Mistral," Diamo answered, much to his disappointment.

"They had spider tattoos all around their bodies. I assumed they belonged to the same group, but would you mind filling us in, Diamo?" Jack asked as he was re-adjusting his right arm.

"They go by many names, but the most common ones are either 'The Spider Syndicate' or just 'The Spiders.' They are one of two ridiculously powerful gangs that control the influx of Intel around the city and possibly the whole continent." A detailed explanation came from the sniper's mouth.

"Great, we've already managed to piss off a gang. Well isn't that just great!?"

"Don't lose your composure just yet, Q. Those guys were probably small fry. They won't bother us. For now at least. As long we keep a low profile once, inside Mistral, everything should turn out fine. Don't. Act. Stupid. Understand?" Jack warned his team, as he was very aware of their uncanny skill to get into trouble without even knowing it. They nodded in silence, worried and slept deprived they marched forward.

Saber tried to comfort the cowboy and walked up to his leg. He started sneezing, but he didn't mind. He gently petted the husky's head. Lucy clung up on Jack's left arm as if they were taking a stroll in the park. She tried her hardest to pretend that was the case. Ace and Quinn teased the couple, making annoying kissing noises like a bunch of immature children.

Diamo was the one walking ahead of everyone as he knew the route to Mistral even without a map. He was also the one most likely to spot an ambush. He tried to look for marks on the road; he even turned his head around a few times to see if they were being followed. He took a lot of precautions on this trip.

"Are we there yet, partner?" Ace asked the sniper.

"No, not yet. Don't be impatient Ace."

"How about now?" Ace kept asking.

"If you're going to be like this for the whole trip, then I suggest you shut your mouth before I do it for you!" Quinn got annoyed in record time. He was like a kettle that reached his boiling point. Ace didn't say another word after that, but he did get quite bored on the hour or so long trip. They already had a good chunk of the road behind them when suddenly they began to notice a flurry of lights and noises coming from the distance. They saw the bright lights of the main gate illuminating the road ahead. It made it easy for the group to sneak behind the bushes and trees and use their binoculars to scout out the area.

"Heh, it looks like you weren't kidding about the main gate, Q," Jack commented while looking at the entrance packed with police officers. They were checking a line of people trying to access the capital. Some passed without any issues, while others were being arrested for standing out. It looked awful for Team JAQK.

"I never exaggerate the things I say; it is what it is. Sometimes I wish I was wrong, though." Quinn noted while observing the civilians. He noticed some had fine clothing and other things that screamed rich from miles away. It looked like they were able to cut line without getting an inspection. "Hmph. What a bunch of snobs…" He mumbled in disdain.

"Where's the sewer entrance?" Ace asked Diamo who also was looking for the entrance.

"There. We have to go around and follow the wall by going west."

"How can you be so sure they won't look there?" The bruiser asked the sniper, doubting his every word.

"They're too busy even to go there, and at night it's rather dangerous cause of the Grimm activity in the area. Only idiots would try going that way."

"Whatever the case, we have to move now." The cowboy ordered his team as Diamo went on ahead to guide them to the secret passage. They snuck past, avoiding the lights close to the wall, trying to trespass into the city as quietly as possible. The wall became less illuminated the farther they went along it until there was nothing but the moonlight shining over them.

"Here we are…what the…?"

"Oh, now what!?" Quinn was slightly annoyed when they noticed a Beowolf standing above the sewer's only entrance.

"We always have a bump in the road, don't we? Let me handle it…"

"No, I'll go." Jack stopped Ace before he could go after the lonely Grimm.

"Ok, just be careful out there, bro." He gave the cowboy some reassuring words. The cowboy smiled and looked to Lucy and Saber, giving them a smile and a thumbs up to reassure them that he'll be fine. All he got were displeased looks from both of them.

Jack walked straight up in front of the Grimm as if it was nothing. The Beowolf didn't react aggressively to the Leader. He approached slowly, but the only thing the Grimm did was that it got closer to sniff him, almost as if it couldn't see the cowboy in front of it. It didn't take long for it to notice him and be marked as a treat. The Beowolf wound up to roar at his face. Jack wound up his hand prior and slapped it with his robotic arm with enough strength to twist its neck and kill it instantly.

"Didn't your mother tell you to keep your voice down when people are around?" He waited a few seconds in a moment of silence for any response. "Guess not." He remarked to the dead Grimm as it faded into black mist. The cowboy waited for the mist to dissipate while the group entered the sewers. Jack and Quinn were the strongest, so they opened the hatch together. A smell so foul was unleashed that it made everyone cover their noses. The smell of sewage and nasty fumes filled the air.

"Gwaahh, it reeks of corpses and pizza in there!" Ace exclaimed as he tried to use his bandana to cover his nose and mouth from the stench.

"So, who's going in first?" Quinn asked the group but casually glanced at the sniper who was ducking near the entrance, illuminating the place with his flashlight.

"Do you want me to test it?" Diamo asked the bruiser with a monotone voice.

"Sure. Just make it quick."

"Okay." Without warning, Diamo kicked Quinn into the sewers. The bruiser screamed in anger. Nobody was expected the sniper to act in such a devious way.

"What was that!? Is he alright!?" Lucy asked with concern in her voice.

"YOU BAAAASTARD!" Quinn was swearing at the top of his lungs.

"Yeah. He's fine…" Jack said sarcastically as he lifted Saber with his right arm before hopping inside. He sneezed uncontrollably as they jumped down the hole. They landed safely and touched the ground. Jack adjusted to the atrocious stench and quickly put the husky down. The cowboy extended his arms and waited to catch Lucy as she jumped after them. Ace followed them as well. He jumped into the hole, leaving Diamo behind to shut the entrance.

"What's the big idea, Asshat!? Just wait when I got my hands on you and…!" Quinn yelled at the sniper as everyone was already steeping the secret passage.

"Would you cut that out already? My head hurts from having to listen to you two whining." Lucy ordered them to behave. A very responsible and adult thing to do.

"Are you sure this way is safe? This place gives me the creeps." Ace commented as he pointed his flashlight everywhere.

"We have no choice. If Diamo says this is the safest path, then I trust he will guide us there safely. Now, shall we?" Jack brought a sense of reassurance to the team as he moved aside to let the sniper guide the group. They ventured into the dark passage, each step a step closer to their destiny.

* * *

"Tonight, my dear friends is a day to remember. Tonight, we take a step in forever changing the lives of Faunus and humans alike for the better. No longer shall the name of the White Fang invoke fear and hatred, but a bright future for both Faunus and humans alike. We are the new White Fang, the one it was always meant to be from the start and will be from here onward. No more attacks, no more shady alliances, no more secrets, no more lies. We are all in this, together!" Ghira Belladonna, the mayor of Menagerie and current Leader of the New White Fang just finished giving his speech during a celebration in a Faunus-only bar named Sher's Woods located in the slums of Mistral.

He, his wife Kali and his daughter Blake were sitting next to him at the table in the middle of the bar. He drank from the large beer glass in his hand as he enjoyed the live music. It was a lovely place. The staff was efficient and friendly, food and drinks were good, and entertainment was a hit, for the most part.

"What's the matter, Blake? You haven't ordered anything." Ghira asked his daughter while enjoying his drink.

"I'm not hungry." She replied as she was lost in thought.

"Oh come on. Order something. How about a drink?"

"I'm 18, I'm not legally allowed to drink yet in this kingdom."

"How about something to eat, sweetie? I heard the food here is good." Kali suggested as she looked at the menu. Blake looked to see the options. Nothing fancy, but most of them sounded good for any Faunus. A couple of minutes later, a waitress with a bushy fox tail came to the table with a notebook write down their orders.

"Good evening, would you like to order?" She asked in a friendly manner.

"Yes, I want to order grilled tuna with the house sauce." Blake pointed to the item on the menu. The waitress grimaced in shock. "Huh, is something wrong?"

"N-No no, absolutely nothing. Grilled tuna with house sauce. Anything else?"

"Lemonade, if it isn't much," Blake ordered one last thing before the waitress left. She approached every table, picking up dishes and refilling drinks as she went by. It looked like hard work for only one waitress, but she still managed to do it with a smile on her face.

It was a busy place consisting of only one waitress, one bartender, a cook, three musicians, the manager and the owner who was proud of running the Faunus-only bar.

After she was done getting the orders, the fox-tailed waitress entered the kitchen with her full hands of plates and a worn-out look in her eyes. "What's the matter D? How does it feel to actually work for once?" The Turtle Faunus cook asked the waitress in a joking tone.

"Seriously, I never expected that the White Fang would ever step in this place." She replied as she sat down in a chair for a quick break.

"And we'll probably be busier for as long as they stay in the city. Business will be booming more than ever." The cook said with both excitement and a tremble in his voice.

"Great, more work. Thanks for cutting my weekend early, Sheldon." The waitress snarked at the cook as she fiddled with the pin in her hair. A Panda Faunus came through the door, catching the two workers slacking off.

"Hey, quit your chit chat and help me carry the drinks." The bartender ordered his fellow employees, getting into a hurry to provide efficient presentable service.

"You heard Nori. Back to work." Sheldon said to the waitress, and she got into action, bringing their customers their respective drinks. A Faunus Rooster with a winning smile was on the stage with a microphone and a wooden stool.

"Greetings everyone, allow me to present myself. My name is Starlock A'Dayle, and tonight I'll be a very special entertainer for our extraordinary guests." He was dressed in classy clothes trying to get himself ready for the routine. "Alright hear me out, I once went to the Market District to get me a new pair of shoes, nice and dandy so far. And now as I'm walking, I trip. My shoes went flying into a random guy's face, built like a brick wall that guy, looked like he slept through the stone age. I ran for it in the opposite direction when I heard him say 'I'm gonna face you!' Of course, what he actually said was 'Ow...face… shoe!'" After telling his joke, silence filled the air, occasionally interrupted by a cough from an audience member. Must have been a tough crowd he thought.

"Okay, okay, I've got another one. I saw two Beowolves roaming outside the city. Ya know, they reminded me of an old married couple. One roared at the other; the other one roared back, one stormed off like they were finished, the other one was left alone. It probably wasn't working out anyway. They probably filed for a grim-vorce." Still, no reaction other than a cough.

"Hey! Why not try your best routine!?" The waitress yelled at the bad comedian.

"Oh yeah? Which is…?"

"Getting off the stage!" Her response gave the audience a couple of good laughs.

"You can't make me do that! It's my turn to shine!"

"Sorry to disappoint you, but the only thing that shines on that stage is the lightbulb above you." She made another witty reply, and more people started bursting into laughter.

"Is that so? Do you forget you're a waitress!?"

"No, but then again, I'm not the one with my fly down." The Rooster Faunus just noticed and tried to hastily zip his pants back up. The whole place was booming with laughter and applause thanks to the funny "routine" the two managed to pull off. The audience thought that it was all part of the routine and they congratulated the performer on stage. The waitress kept doing her job, giving the right drinking orders to every single table.

It took a couple of minutes before she was done the serving. She then went to check on everyone backstage. She saw the comedian and the trio of feline Faunus adjusting their instruments. "You're doing great. The people probably want an encore." Starlock said to the musicians with a straight face and a hot towel on his head.

"Josie, I need you to play it a little slower. We don't want to end the night too soon." He said to the guitarist and vocalist. "Melody, you are going a bit off tune. Try to keep up, please." He corrected the drummer's mistakes. "And Valerie, my sweet, sweet Valerie, what's with your voice? I noticed some raspy tones back there. Are you sick or something? I'll give you some medicine and no vocals in the meanwhile, just stick playing." He was acting like a caring coach. He grabbed a first-aid kit to get some medicine for the bassist and backup vocalist. They were taking a break before they could start playing more music for the night.

"Looking, good everyone." The waitress said to everyone inside the dressing room.

"Thanks, we've got a bigger audience than usual." Said Starlock. "Also, as much I hate you for interrupting me in the middle of my routine, I should thank you for getting me out of that awkward situation. I guess comedy really isn't my forte." He thanked the waitress with honest gratitude on his voice.

"No prob, Star. All this work flipped my brain into 'whatever mode' as I was getting tired." She replied as she collapsed on the chair. She grabbed a water bottle, which she rejected with disgust. "Sheesh, this tastes like fish, ugh."

"I understand, the world of entertainment isn't an easy job for anyone of your education. It takes a really talented person, just like everyone in this room." The flamboyant Faunus said as he took another hot towel for himself.

"Yeah, everyone except you."

"Hey, hey, just because I couldn't find my talent doesn't mean I should stop trying!" He felt like the comment was outrageous, but he could tell she was hiding something beneath that look of hers. "By the way, did you hear anything from your brother Tod?"

"No, it's just that… it's been so long since I last got a chance to talk to him. I wish I were there with him." The waitress said with some sorrow on her eyes.

"Well, I'm not that worried about him. He's a survivor, just like us. As long as he has his team of... unsophisticated Huntsmen, then he should be fine." He said while brushing some hair and other dirt from his shiny suit with an adhesive roll. "Another thing, Natto told me that he'll be back in an hour, so don't lock the back door until he comes back." Star justified to the waitress the absence of the bar's manager.

"Okey-dokey." The waitress said as she took the performer's dishes back to the kitchen. She was putting them all in the dishwasher as if she was on autopilot. The Fox Faunus tried to think of how she would turn out if something bad happened. She was hoping that things could turn out for the better. But for now, it was just another boring day of work for her.

* * *

"Four-Eyes, are you sure this is the right way!? I feel like we're going in circles!" Quinn yelled at the sniper who was guiding the group through the sewers.

"I'm completely certain, Heartstone. I left some tally marks on some of the walls to give an idea of the right route." Diamo said it as he illuminated the area with his flashlight. He pointed it at walls with the marks as mentioned above, each one numbered in order.

"Can we do something about the smell at least? I think me and Saber can no longer feel our noses." Ace said while still covering his mouth and nose with his bandana. He did the same for the husky.

"You look like a bandit." Lucy mocked Ace's appearance.

"Bandits wish they could look this good. But more importantly, what exactly are we going to do after we reach the city, bro?" The jovial guy asked the Leader who was illuminating the passage. Jack could tell Ace forgot the plan pretty quickly.

"As we already discussed, we're gonna stop by Lucy's place first. You guys will go to see Diamo's friends and find a place to sleep for the night. Tomorrow, we're going job-hunting to get some cash for a decent place. Please, don't make me repeat myself, Ace." The Leader caught his brother from another mother up to speed on the situation.

"Hey, Q." The cowboy called out to the bruiser. "I noticed you've been way too loud lately. Haven't you been keeping your emotions in check?"

"No, I haven't. After traveling alone for so long, it's been really hard. Even though I had another person with me, she couldn't keep me in check, and it just got worse after what happened at Vale." Quinn said with a solemn voice. His hands couldn't stop moving as he moved them around impatiently.

"We know how you feel, and we feel the same after what happened to her." Lucy tried to comfort the bruiser with a pat on the back.

"I know, it's just…I couldn't do anything. It pisses me off that we didn't do anything to stop her. I regret being too cold for her. DAMMIT, THIS SUCKS!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, much to everyone's annoyance, but also sorrow. As they walked further, the husky stopped for a brief moment and turned her ears as she picked up odd noises in the area.

"Something wrong, girl?" Lucy asked her pet as she kneeled to check on her.

"Probably just rats. Those pests are everywhere." Quinn commented as he was looking around for them, but there weren't any to be seen.

"I don't think rats are what she heard," Diamo commented as he stopped walking and focused into his surroundings. The group did so as well. They started hearing steps coming from up ahead. The sound slowly increased, making the team becoming more cautious. It became worse when they started hearing voices and saw a ray of light approaching them from one of the tunnels.

"Everyone, take cover!" Jack whispered to everyone and made them take cover behind the sewer walls. Jack, Quinn, and Diamo hid behind the left tunnel while Ace, Lucy, and Saber took the right. They had their backs against the wall while Jack and Ace stayed near the corner to peek on who was approaching them. Lucy tried to calm Saber not to alarm them.

"I hate this, I'm telling you. Why did they have to assign us to inspect this place? I could have just stayed at the main entrance like the rest of the unit." One patrolman ranted to another as they swung their flashlights around to inspect their surroundings.

"They told us to check for every possible way in or out of the city. If those people who attacked Haven could have fled through here, they don't wanna take any chances." He replied to his partner with a more composed look. "Just look for anything suspicious."

As they were heading to their direction, the group tried to hold their breath to avoid making any weird noises. They began to sweat as the lights got closer. Ace looked at Jack as he pulled out his main weapon, waiting for a prompt. The cowboy shook his head at him. Ace swiftly holstered his weapon.

Quinn began to feel a disgusting sensation on his right shoulder. As soon as he turned to see what it was, he discovered a rat was standing on his shoulder, sniffing his neck. It made him uncomfortable to the point that it made him jump. The small splash was enough to alert the patrolmen.

"Huh? Who's there!?" One of them shouted as he aimed a flashlight and a gun all around the place. They approached cautiously, looking on every tunnel they came across. They found nothing but they were getting closer. Jack had to think fast about how they could distract them without giving away their position. Diamo grabbed the rat from Quinn's shoulder and gently put it on the ground.

The rat started panicking and run toward the patrolmen. They saw it going further into the main tunnel. With a sigh of relief, they relax and put their guns away. "Stupid rats, they're everywhere." Said one of the patrolmen.

"Seriously, we should call an exterminator or something. I wouldn't let my kids drink tap if the water ever gets infected."

"What do you mean? We're in the sewers." Asked the partner.

"One of these tunnels runs to Mistral's Water Treatment Plant, which means the potable water can get dirty if someone doesn't get rid of those pests." As the patrolman finished explaining, his communicator started to make some noise.

"Unit 24, can you respond? Copy."

"Here Unit 24, what's the matter? Over."

"We have a disturbance at the main entrance. We need you there ASAP. Over."

"Sure, we'll be there in no time. Over and Out." The patrolmen stopped their conversation and turned to the direction they came from. "You heard them, and we must go see what this ruckus is all about."

"I bet it's the Faunus. They've been crawling everywhere around the city since yesterday." The other patrolman commented as he followed his partner back to the sewers' exit. They were running carefully to avoid slipping on a wet place. The group heard their footsteps fading away to the point that they were no longer able to hear them.

"Are they gone?" Diamo asked Jack.

"Yes, they are." The leader gave an assuring reply.

"Seriously, what the hell? You said this place was safe to travel through and yet those pigs show up. What's going on Four-Eyes!?" The bruiser was upset with the sniper. He tried to grab him and pin him against the wall. Diamo ducked out of the way and made Quinn trip into the water.

"It was supposed to go smoothly. I am just as surprised as you are, Heartstone." He said as he wiped his glasses.

"Now, now, no need to get angry. You heard those guys, security did increase after the attack on Haven. Speaking of which, why didn't you allow me to knock them out? You know I can do non-lethal too, right bro?" Ace asked the leader while checking for more guards.

"When I said keeping a low profile, I also meant not to attack any form of authority. We can't do anything that would make us look suspicious." Jack reaffirmed the specific details while checking to see if the coast was clear.

"Whatever the case, I just want to get out of here. Right. Now." Quinn's comment was something everyone agreed on. "Oh, and don't forget. It's 'Sir Mister Heartstone' for you, asshole."

"Yeah, I don't care," Diamo said as he took the front once again to guide the group to their destination. They went slowly and silently just in case more unexpected guests were planning on doing some light sightseeing around the sewers. The longer they went, the more they started to get accustomed to the putrid smells of the sewers. It didn't make a difference.

It took them thirty or so minutes to finally get to the last tally mark on the way. Diamo pointed to a hatch above them. Jack gestured a few signals, ordering Ace and Quinn to check if there were any civilians near the exit. So far from what Ace saw, they were in an alleyway.

"No germs in the area, I think we're good to…" Before Ace could say anything, a couple of people walked out of the alley without noticing the hatch was a little open. They made him close the hatch in panic and accidentally hit his face. "Oww…" He said while rubbing his head.

The jovial guy was the first to climb out of the sewers. Jack lifted Saber and passed her to Ace. The leader let out a soft sneeze. Next was Lucy. She had Jack give her a boost and had Ace lift her by her arm. Diamo was next and climbed out too. Quinn helped Jack leave due to his strength. Quinn was the last one left. Jack and Diamo lifted him at the same time which was difficult because of the bruiser's weight.

"Alright. Shut the hatch." Jack ordered Diamo while the rest of the group left the alleyway to see the Market District. It was bright but traditional even though it was essentially the center of Anima.

A lot of people were passing by without much to negativity, even despite what happened last night. It was as if nothing happened. "Ugh, look at those ignorant fools, living in bliss while there's raging chaos out there," Quinn commented in disdain about the blissful residents of the city.

"That's the kind of world they live in. Even Atlas has more people kept in the dark living on that floating rock." Ace responded to the bruiser's comment.

"That Big. Stupid. Rock." Ace and Lucy nodded in agreement to Quinn's statement.

"So, where's your father's house at? You said it was the closest place from the here." Diamo asked the redhead girl as he was cleaning his glasses from any dirt.

"From what he told me once, he said it's south from here," Lucy explained as she brought up a map of Mistral from her Scroll. They saw their current location, the house, various districts, and Haven Academy. Diamo was thinking of the distance between him and where his friends were at. They weren't too far either.

"Let's move, and I'm not too big into crowds," Jack told everyone as they started heading to where Lucy's father lived. They tried to keep a small distance between each other to avoid looking they were together. Some tried to keep a distance by staying behind on purpose or by window-shopping or just by sitting on a bench for a couple of seconds before following the others. They weren't the best at being subtle, but they did their best at least.

They did get lost on some streets and corners. It didn't matter that they already arrived in Mistral, they still didn't feel safe at any given moment. Eyes peering on them everywhere and lights illuminating the streets were enough to make the cowboy feel paranoid.

"There it is." Lucy pointed at a one-story house between two bigger buildings, it looked nice, but the width was pretty short. She wasn't kidding when she said the house was small. They wondered what it looked like from the inside. They approached the door and saw a sign saying 'DR. LAWRENCE CARMINE, PSYCHIATRIST & PROSTHETICS EXPERT' on the wall next to the bell. Lucy pushed the button, and the rest could hear the bell ringing loudly from inside.

 _"Who are you? Sorry but I don't make appointments after 6 pm."_ The man's soothing voice flowed through the intercom.

"Hey dad, it's Lucy." The redhead replied with excitement in her voice.

 _"Firefly? Is that you?"_ The man spoke. Lucy felt embarrassed by the nickname.

"Yes, it's me. Are you gonna open or not?"

 _"Mhhh…one moment, please."_ He was done communicating, and the intercom went silent. For a brief moment, Jack started to snicker. It was enough to make his embarrassed girlfriend blush.

"Hehe, 'Firefly'?" Jack commented.

"Shut up, dummy. I'm not the only one here with an embarrassing nickname, you know?" Lucy smirked and looked Jack in the eyes. He realized pretty quickly what she meant and stopped laughing. The rest of the group was left confused.

They heard noises coming from the inside as there was too much stuff in the way. They watched the doorknob slowly turn and soon they saw the door open. A man probably in his late 40's or early 50's opened the door. He looked quite unkept. He had a grown grey beard and rugged clothes. Not the best definition of personal care. "Firefly, it's nice to see you again!" He hugged the redhead girl, making her feel a lot more awkward.

"Hey, dad. Caught you sleeping?"

"No, I was just busy doing some of my research. Don't worry about your old man slacking off." He said with a smile. Lucy wasn't too happy that he was working too much. "Jack my boy, it's nice to see you again." He said as he came in for a hug.

"Hey, Dr. Carmine." The cowboy greeted him with the same awkward expression as his girlfriend.

"How many times do I have to tell you? You can just call me Larry." He asked Jack to drop the formalities. "Who are these guys?" The psychiatrist said as he looked at the rest of the group.

"Oh yeah, you never met them before. These are my teammates. Ace, Quinn, and Diamo. Guys, this is Dr. Lawrence Carmine, he's the one in charge of my arm."

"And your PTSD. Hoping you don't have any though." Larry said in a pretty playful tone. "Come on in, I have some coffee."

"We appreciate the offer, Dr. Carmine, but we have somewhere else to be at the moment," Diamo spoke politely as he looked at the map of Mistral and walked away.

"Sorry, we can't stay, but hey, we'll see you tomorrow morning. See ya, bro!" Ace followed his partner to their next destination.

"Does the coffee have any sugar and cream?" Quinn asked the good psychiatrist.

"Lots of it. Always. Why?"

"I'm out." The bruiser left as well without saying anything. Larry didn't understand what he saw but just shrugged as he, the young couple and their husky walked into the house.

The place was a total disaster. It was as if a tornado came in and caused the mess. Piles of papers and blueprints, some unwashed coffee mugs, and empty cups of instant noodles were laying around the house. The cowboy couldn't comprehend how his kind of person could live in such a state. "Yes, don't think about it too much," Lucy said as she gave him a weak smile and a pat on the back.

"Hey, I wasn't expecting you to come here, why the visit all of a sudden? Weren't you two supposed to be in Atlas?" Larry asked as he moved stuff around and cleaned his desk.

"Didn't you read the letter I sent four months ago!?" Lucy said in an upset tone.

"What letter…?" He looked at her daughter with confusion, she frowned coldly. "Ah yes! That letter! I have them right here…somewhere in this pile of papers. I have them on hand in my important inbox, don't worry, I remember where I put it." He mumbled as he threw bits of paper and trash around his study. Lucy face-palmed as she observed her father's behavior.

"Oh forget it, I'll go take a shower. You two can talk in the meantime. Come on Saber, you and I will take a warm bath together." The redhead said to her loyal husky with delight. The dog followed her to the next room, leaving both of the men alone.

"Oh well, I'll look for that letter later." Larry said with a shrug and stopped cleaning his desk. "Jackie boy, how about you take a seat while I ask you some questions?"

"Sure, I guess." Jack wasn't feeling very comfortable seeing the psychiatrist treat him as another patient. The cowboy settled into a chair while Larry grabbed a recorder, a pen, and a notepad from his desk.

"This is patient number 47, name, Jack Spades…" The psychiatrist was speaking with the recorder already on. "Male, 19-year-old, blood type AB Negative, the subject has lost a limb. The whole right arm starting from the shoulder…" He continued listing off Jack's personal details, which bored the cowboy to death. "…Now tell me, Jack, how's your mother, Deka?"

"She's fine, just the usual. Still working as a tailor back at Patch."

"I see, when was the last time you spoke to her?" Larry continued with the interview.

"I lost count. Definitely a few months. It's probably a year since I saw her after the Vytal Festival. I've been writing letters to her, though I've never received one because I was constantly on the move."

"Letters huh? Interesting, have you been doing what I told after losing your arm?"

"Yeah, I've been writing in a journal with my left hand, sometimes with the right too for better coordination, just like you told me." Jack said while scratching his left eyebrow.

"Good. So what were you writing? If you don't mind sharing with me, of course." Larry said as he took down some notes.

"It depends, sometimes I just write what I did during the day, other times I just write stuff about what I dreamt the previous night."

"Dreams? What kind of dreams?"

"The same kind of dream, or more accurately nightmare. I didn't write much, cause it's always the same thing."

"Okay. Could you tell me more about this nightmare?"

"All I can recall is that I'm standing in a burning room. I'm unable to move. There's always a shadow standing in the middle. The only thing that changes is the silhouette's form. I'm unable to recognize who it could be, but the most I can say is that the nightmare always ends with the flame scorched ceiling falling over the silhouette…" As Jack was retelling his nightmare, Larry noticed the cowboy's right eye started twitching. His voice started shaking, and his breathing went up significantly.

"Alright, I guess that's enough. No need to overexert yourself, but I have to admit, we're making progress. Your isn't eye twitching as often as the first couple of days since our sessions began." The psychiatrist complemented the cowboy's progress.

"Well, thanks? At first, I used to smoke a lot after I lost my arm as a way to stop the twitching, but Lucy made me quit last year."

"Really? How exactly did she do it in such a short amount of time?" As Larry asked Jack about the process, the cowboy remained silent. He rubbed his left cheek with a distressed look. "Ah, I see, no words are necessary." Larry was done taking notes and put them in his folder. "I guess that's enough for tonight. We'll continue at another time." He said as he pressed stop on his recorder.

"Yeah. I don't sound too excited, huh?" Jack brought his lack of expression during the session to the therapist's attention.

"You did fine, although I can say that she's quite strict on you. Heh, kind of like her mother." He said as his mood switched. Jack was now curious about Lucy's mother.

"She didn't tell me many details about her. How was she back then?" The cowboy asked with genuine concern.

"Heh, Penelope was a strong woman, pretty much the glue of our lives. Sometimes I wonder what someone like her saw in a careless guy like me. Was it my magnetic personality or my long hair that I had when we were young? Not really, but my guess is it was the sheer desire to help someone despite their flaws. When she left this world our Firefly was four years old. Even before then fate wasn't very kind to us." His eyes turned to a sad grimace as he looked at a picture of his locket. "She felt guilty ever since we lost Penelope. All children feel the same at some point in their lives, even if they have nothing to do with it. Could you believe that?"

Jack did believe it in some way. He felt that way too a very long time ago. The cowboy regretted asking him such a delicate topic. Good thing Lucy wasn't listening or things could gone bad for everyone.

"In any case, she was a great woman if that's what are you asking." Larry said while trying to recover from the downer mood.

"It's fine, I guess my curiosity just got the best of me."

"Well, now that we're talking about each other's feelings on a personal level, would you care for some coffee?"

"Sure…" Jack said while Larry poured hot water into two mugs.

"Cheers." The psychiatrist said as he gestured with his mug. Before they could even take a sip of coffee, Lucy walked up to them and relentlessly pried their beverages away.

"No coffee for you two. Tomorrow's gonna be a busy day." The redhead girl said with a pretty strict tone. Both men sighed in disappointment. Saber jumped up on Jack's lap and waved her tail in relief. The cowboy didn't sneeze as he pets her head. Lucy threw a pillow and some blankets for her boyfriend to sleep on. He was staying on the couch for the night. "Come on dad, I made your bed too."

Like mother, like daughter. That's what both men thought about her as she dragged her father back to his room. After that, she kissed Jack goodnight and went to sleep in her own room.

Jack sighed as he disengaged his right arm. He hung a dreamcatcher above his head and shut his eyes until he fell asleep. _'What a long day'_ He said to himself as he tried to think of what to do tomorrow.

* * *

Outside of Mistral's walls, just a few feet from a river, two Boarbatusks where beating a man's corpse. They acted in fury and anger for some odd reason. There was no sense about it. The foul creatures soon started sensing another being. There was someone coming out of the river. The person had a completely white outfit, white as the snow. It had various different marks and cuts in it.

One Grimm tried to charge him, but it stopped when the stranger kicked in its direction. He shot the creature with his boot that had a gun attached to it. The Grimm was killed instantly. His movements were as fierce as those vicious wolves.

The other Boarbatusk tried to attack when the stranger was distracted, but the man focused his eyes on it. His right eye shot a small blast of light, turning the Grimm into nothing more than stone. He punched it until it crumbled, leaving nothing but small pieces behind. The man looked at his surroundings. He noticed the corpse and a pair of bracelets on the ground. He took the bracelets and adjusted them to his wrists.

He then walked towards the corpse. He checked his vitals, but the guy was already long gone. There was no way to help him. He inspected what he the dead guy had in his pockets, hoping for at least some identification in case he had any relatives. In the dead man's wallet, he only found 1400 Lien, a Scroll and an ID saying R.E.D. It belonged to a guy named 'Roger Davis,' who resembled the disfigured corpse in only hair color and length.

He tried to access the device but couldn't get in without authorization. The mysterious figure grabbed the corpse' hand. He used it to unlock it and was able to change the password. So far, there was a lot of info that he couldn't check at the moment. The only thing he could check was where the dead man lived. It looked like he lived right in the city's center. The home address was a house situated very close to Haven Academy.


	3. A Divided House III

**Disclaimer: RWBY Characters, places and terminologies with the exception of the Original Characters, belongs to Rooster Teeth Productions.**

* * *

"I don't like this, partner." Ace said as he looked at the decaying neighborhood before them. There were Faunus around that seemed to give them very suspicious looks as he, Diamo, and Quinn were passing by.

"What's the matter with all these guys? They're just staring at us." Quinn commented in an uneasy tone, odd considering he was the one who usually scared everyone.

"We are in the district of Hamu Nashi, also known as The Slums." Diamo explained while avoiding eye contact with the residents. He was still guiding his teammates across the area.

"Okay, but that doesn't answer the question of why they keep staring at us."

"This district is inhabited mostly by Faunus. The human population is rather low and somewhat vilified." The sniper explained in brief detail. He made his teammates feel as if they were crossing through a danger zone.

"Geez, so this is what the Faunus from Atlas feel like when they walk in public, huh? I ain't liking one bit of it." Ace commented with lament toward the situation.

"Here it's no different. At least there are no snobs bothering anyone here, that's for certain. It feels like home already." Quinn said with contempt.

As they walked further, they saw how everything around them was in a state of decay, some families were inside their homes with faint lights in their windows, illuminated only by candles and cheap light bulbs. Some houses had holes in them because the cheap materials couldn't stand the strain that came with the environment. The main street's road wasn't made of cement or any other durable material like the one at the Market District or any other road in the city for that matter. It was clear as day the moment they stepped into the district.

Out of the three men, Diamo was the one overwhelmed by sadness.

The trio of runways approached the front door of a place with the sign "Sheer's Wood" in big neon letters hanging above it. Diamo knocked on the door, waiting for a response.

"Yes? Who's there?" A woman's voice asked through the other side of the door.

"Hi, Dana." The sniper greeted.

"Tod? Is that… you?" The woman slowly opened the door, leaving only a small aperture. A Fox-tailed Faunus dressed as a waitress looked at the group with surprise. "What are you doing here? I thought…"

"I know you have a lot of questions, but we need to talk with you." The sniper interrupted the waitress.

"Wait, we?" She noticed the two men behind Diamo, which shocked her even more. "W-Why are your teammates here?"

"It's a long story, we can tell you if you get us inside."

"I don't think this is a good time, Tod." Dana looked back inside to see what the customers were doing. She quickly focused her attention back to her brother and friends. "Meet me at the backdoor. I'll let you from there." She said so and shut the door. The young men walked out of the bar and went to where the backdoor was. Dana had already opened the door. Luckily, it was left open. She didn't have the keys to open it even from inside.

"Hi, Dana." Quinn greeted Dana in a friendly manner.

"Hey, Quinn." She replied with the same sentiment.

"Yo Dana, thanks for letting us in. What're they celebrating? Looks fun." Ace asked the waitress. He really wanted to take a peek at the place.

"We have the White Fang as our guests today." Dana's comment surprised the guys as if they've just stepped on a landmine.

"The White Fang? Well, this just gets better every minute." The bruiser said with discomfort and crossed arms.

"Actually, they're not THE White Fang. They're the NEW White Fang."

"What's the difference?" The sniper asked.

"They call themselves the 'ones who we were meant to be'. They actually want equality."

"The White Fang being friendly? Now that's something I've never heard before." Quinn commented in disbelief.

"Oh come on, you heard me and Ace's story. It isn't impossible."

"Speaking of stories, mind explaining everything to me, Tod?" Dana waited for her brother to explain. Diamo tried to make it brief by telling their whole story all the while not going too much into details in regards to Jack's false accusations. Dana did nothing but shake her head in disappointment. "Oh Tod, Tod, Tod…Why do you always have to rely on your big sister like this?"

"You're like two minutes older than me." as Diamo said that Dana looked down and gave herself a swift facepalm.

"It doesn't matter. You know this is a mess. So, do you expect me to hide the three of you?"

"Only for tonight, we're gonna adjust ourselves early in the morning." Quinn spoke since he was kind of hasty.

"We're not sheltering homeless people. Especially wanted criminals and humans to boot." Everyone grimaced a hurt expression at the waitress' comment. "Your best solution is to stay at my place instead."

"Please, don't." Diamo protested at Dana's idea.

"What's wrong with that?" Ace asked his partner.

"What are you hiding? Your secret stash or something?" Quinn snarked at the sniper's objections.

"You wouldn't want that. I'm serious."

"Oh come on, Tod. You know there's no one living there aside from me and Uncle Reggie."

"And that's the problem. Uncle Reggie wouldn't want me there. Not after I left for Atlas."

"You are just exaggerating. You said to a lot of people that I hated you when it wasn't true."

"Are you done with your brother-sister bonding? Are you gonna help us or not?" Quinn was getting tired looking at the siblings getting sidetracked by the conversation. Dana pondered for a brief moment on how to deal with the situation, but also made a good excuse to slack off work.

"Wait for me outside. I'll be with you in a moment." The trio of fugitives did what the Faunus instructed. She returned to the pub and then went to the dressing room to get her handbag. As she was walking around the place, the bartender noticed her as she was about to leave.

"Where are you going, Dana?"

"Sorry Nori, but I must go home, Uncle Reggie needs some help."

"B-But what about all these orders?"

"I'm sure you'll have it covered. I'll be back in no time." The waitress left without anything else to add, leaving the Panda Faunus alone to deal with the guests. The orders were accumulating pretty fast with Dana out. Definitely another ordinary night with the same shenanigans.

The Fox-tailed Faunus went through the backdoor with her handbag and classy coat. "Shall we go now?" She asked the group as she went ahead of them.

"Don't you have work to do?" Her brother asked.

"You know the words 'Me' and 'Work' don't go well in the same sentence, Tod." She said nonchalantly. Quinn chuckled. The same sentence could be used to describe Ace.

As they were getting further away from the pub, Tiny Nori had a whole situation to keep under control with their main waitress out. He kept his composure and organized all the orders for each table. He tried to read Dana's notebook to make out the orders. Her handwriting left much to be desired. It did, however, have small detailed drawings on the side about the orders. He tried to consult to the cook Sheldon about what those were.

As Nori took an order, he carried it to the center table, where Ghira was sitting. "Who ordered the Grilled Tuna with house sauce and lemonade?" He asked the guests. The cat Faunus Blake swiftly raised her hand. "Alright, there you go. If you need anything else, just ask me."

"What happened to the waitress?" Blake asked the bartender.

"Family emergency, she'll be back later." Nori informed the Cat Faunus. As he went to attend the rest of the tables, Blake started drooling at the mere sight of her dish. Both its scent and presentation was enough to make her feel hungry, even though that wasn't the case before.

"That smells great, Blake." Kali commented on her daughter's meal.

"It really is…" Blake picked up a pair of chopsticks and began eating the dish. She chewed it into pieces while removing all the scales and bones. As she was enjoying it, she noticed the fourth seat at the table was empty. It was Ilia's seat. "Hey dad, where's Ilia?" Blake asked.

"She said she would be on the balcony on the second floor. She wanted some fresh air. Could you check on her if it isn't too much to ask? It's her job to stay with us as our bodyguard." Ghira said in a serious tone. Blake nodded and stood up. She went upstairs to see what Ilia was doing.

As she entered the second floor, the Cat Faunus saw her bodyguard behind the door. She was glancing at the view of the district. Blake opened the door and stood next to her friend with a worried look. "Hey, is everything alright? Why aren't you downstairs celebrating with everyone else ?"

"Isn't that funny?" Ilia asked while Blake gave her a confused look. "This place looks pretty similar to Mantle, probably better without all that pollution coming from the mines."

"Do you think it's a good thing?"

"If I'm honest, it is." Ilia said while looking at the houses and structures around the Slums. "This place isn't like Atlas. You're not just automatically labeled as property just for existing. Sure it isn't nice, but for some odd reason, this place seems a lot friendlier. Not because there are no humans, but mainly because no one can do anything to us. It's our own place where no one can bother us, kinda like Menagerie."

"It's an odd place. From what I heard, even human families live here in this district, but the population is pretty small. You could say they're not very different from us."

"I don't know why it took me so much to understand that. It's hard to feel welcome after all I've done to you and your family. Do you truly think there's forgiveness for me?" Ilia looked Blake in the eyes, wondering if there's really a chance to make things go back to how they were before. Blake had a hard time answering her, she felt as if she wasn't the right person to give an honest response. After all, she hurt people she cared about too and still wasn't forgiven.

"Probably. My parents are OK with you and are happy to let you work as their bodyguard. Isn't that enough?" Blake replied, hoping she gave a good answer.

"But what about the rest of the group? They saw what I did. They look at me as if I'll betray them at some point. Lately, I was considering if I should go somewhere else, do something else with my life." In spite of Ilia's calm comment, Blake could understand from her voice that her solution was merely just running away. It was something that the Cat Faunus just couldn't allow.

"Ilia, do you know why I left the Fang?" Blake asked.

"Initially, I thought it was because you were a coward that would rather side with the humans rather than keep on fighting. But now, I don't know anymore. Why did you leave?"

"I left because I hurt too many people. At first, I thought this was the solution to solve all the injustice. We gradually caused a lot of pain and surrounding us. I became aware of what we were becoming. We were turning into monsters even worse than the humans and the Grimm…" Blake said with a melancholic tone. Both of them looked at the floor in shame. "When I ran away the first time, not only did I leave my family and friends but I also felt that if I ever got anyone involved in my past, they would get hurt too. Sooner or later, I knew it would catch up to me and hurt more people. The second time I did it, well, you know the rest."

"I know, but at least things got better, right?" Ilia asked, but it just brought an even downer mood.

"Not really, my friend hates me now and doesn't want to even look at me from what I did to her. Running away was never the answer, but it took support from my family to finally realize it. You should never make the same mistakes as I did. In the New White Fang, we are family now. We want to make things better for everyone, for real." As Blake finished her somewhat reassuring speech, Ilia hugged her to comfort her after everything up until this point.

"Don't worry, I'm sure I won't go anywhere. I'll protect your parents and the Fang with my life, this time, I'll fight for a bright future for all of us." Ilia said to Blake, knowing that things will finally go in a better direction. "I hope you and your friend get back on good terms soon."

"I hope so too, this is something I need to take responsibility for and find a way to solve it." Both of the Faunus were done talking and went back inside the pub to celebrate with the rest of the group. They walked downstairs and returned to their table only to find Ghira having…way too much fun.

"Alright honey, you've had enough." Kali said to the chief.

"Come on! We're only having a good time!"

"I said enough." She said to him with an angry look, her head lowered and her eyebrows raised.

"Okay…okay." Ghira said with a sigh. Blake and Ilia sat down. They never thought they would see the chief in such a state. Kali used to see him in that state a lot more often when they were younger. It's been years, but supposedly old habits die hard. The play was getting more vivid by the minute with the music and drinks.

"Well, did you figure out the party plan?" Blake asked her father.

"What? Aren't we celebrating already?" Ilia replied with a confused look.

"We are celebrating a victory, but celebrating the foundation of our reinvigorated group should be much more elaborate and a lot... fancier." Ghira pointed out the difference.

"It's going to be a gala. Everyone will come properly dressed, there'll be exotic food and activities to entertain the guests. And more importantly, everyone is invited regardless of who they are. Of course, you need to at least wear a tie to get in because not everyone can afford a tuxedo." Kali gave a detailed explanation of how the event is going to be played out. "But of course, all this is pretty expensive."

"Then how exactly are we going to get funding for the gala?" Ilia asked.

"Well, were contacted by someone from this city who wished to discuss that. It was actually his idea to come here and have some fun before he arrives." Ghira mentioned their sponsor, who didn't appear to be there. It didn't take too long before a Faunus with a tanuki tail and formal clothes walked up to their table.

"Are y-you enjoying the n-night?" He spoke with a stutter. He looked pretty confident even with his manner of speech.

"Everything is going great. I never knew a place like this existed. It's been a while since the last time I visited Mistral." Ghira congratulated the person.

"We o-opened here five y-years ago. I m-managed this place for so l-long. I-It really makes me p-proud. I'm h-honored that the Chief of M-Menagerie complem-mented this establishm-ment."

"Well, what can I say? You are definitely a great manager. What's your name?"

"It is N-Natto, Chief." The pub's manager presented himself with a vow. "Oh, and I'm here to t-tell you to come to m-my office. Y-You have people waiting for you u-upstairs to discuss."

"Is he already here? He took a while to process."

"He told me to a-apologize in advance, he was p-pretty busy because his b-boss just arrived t-today." Natto said as Ghira stood up, kissed his wife and daughter on their cheeks and together with Natto set course to the manager's office. As they walked upstairs, Natto noticed the bartender delivering and taking orders around the tables. "H-Hey N-Nori, where's D-Dana?" He asked the Panda Faunus.

"She left not too long ago. She told me she was going to check on her uncle." The bartender replied with an exhausted look. "She said she'll come back. I hope she was telling the truth."

"A-Alright, when she's back, t-tell her that we have a staff m-meeting after I'm done talking in my o-office." The manager said as he followed Ghira to the second floor, leaving Nori busy with the place.

"Oh man, more work for us." He said with a worn-out attitude.

* * *

"We're almost there." Dana said to her brother's teammates while walking around the district. They were behind her, sticking behind her while checking their surroundings. Quinn and Ace started to wonder how strange it was that Diamo and Dana. Not only did they not resemble each other at all, but they were both different races. She had short reddish-brunette hair while he had black hair. The only thing they had in common was their brownish-yellow eyes, and even then Diamo had his covered by his glasses.

Pretty odd to think that even though Quinn and Ace already met Dana two years ago when she visited Atlas, she was nowhere near as capable as their more collected and somewhat unpredictable teammate.

"So, tell me, why are you staying in Mistral?" Dana asked the group.

"We wanna find jobs tomorrow and get our own place. It'll feel like one of those bachelor pads from TV." Ace commented, making them raise an eyebrow. He was clearly missing the point.

"Well, I'm sorry, but the guys at Sher's can't offer you a place for the night cause they're busy at the moment. But hey, you can visit us during the early hours if you want." Dana said as she finally approached a house. It looked bigger than Dr. Carmine's house, but it was in a far worse condition. She pulled a key out of her handbag and unlocked the door. The inside was pretty dark with only a few candles illuminating select parts of the house. The most illuminated part was the fireplace in the living room.

"Dana! Is that you?" A voice boomed from across the house.

"Yes! I'm back!"

"Who in the world did you bring here? I hear more footsteps than usual." He yelled as everyone stopped what they were doing at once. "Three males, one's pretty light, the other one's pretty heavy, and the last one is…huh, so you're back." He quickly figured out who the group was. He grabbed his cane and stood up from his seat in front of the fireplace. He walked slowly towards the entrance. The group saw an elderly Faunus with a raggedy foxtail and completely hollow white eyes. It was clear as day that he was blind.

"Hey, Uncle Reggie."

"Looks like you finally came back, you coward." The blind Faunus said as he grabbed his cane and readied it for a swing.

"Hold on! Wait a minute…!" Diamo tried to reason with him, but it was no use. His uncle swung his cane with enough strength to make everyone except Quinn duck to the ground. The bruiser got hit right in the cheek, but he turned his Aura on to avoid taking any damage making the withered blind man tremble on the impact.

"Huh. That's odd…did I hit a rock? By the gods, are you rooted like an oak or something?" Diamo's uncle started touching Quinn's face, examining every detail of his stoic angry mug. "You've got some gains. I guess that forsaken place really did well for you after all."

"Umm, Uncle Reggie, that's Tod's teammate, Quinn." Dana clarified to the blind man. He swiftly took his hand off his face.

"Oh my. Sorry for that."

"Yeah, you're lucky I wouldn't ever lay a finger on a blind man." The bruiser commented as he walked aside to unpack his belongings.

"Everyone, this is our Uncle Reginald." Dana presented her uncle in a gracious manner, but he just walked back to his chair in front of the fireplace.

"So, what the hell are they doing here?" Reginald asked her as he sat down and tried to read a book for blind people. Diamo couldn't say anything. It was evident he was afraid of his uncle.

"They need a place to stay, for tonight at least." Dana explained to her uncle, only for him to shut his book abruptly. The loud noise brought everyone in the room to attention.

"No…" He said in an unnerving tone. "I want them out."

"Oh come one, you know this is his home too." Dana tried to convince him, but it was clear that no one in the group felt welcome.

"In this house, there's no place for a coward like him. Did you forget he left us for that utterly worthless rock called Atlas?"

"He did it to help us…"

"If he really did it for us, then why didn't he take us there? Oh wait, I forgot. Our kind isn't even welcome there. He just took advantage of who he is. If he really wanted to help us, why he didn't he stay at that child-soldier camp called Haven Academy instead?" Reginald's voice rose with each word he spoke. They couldn't say anything. He went into a passion-filled rant which oddly enough impressed the stoic bruiser.

"Sorry if I'm meddling in family issues…" Ace interjected as he stepped in front of Reginald. "But let me tell you that my partner ain't no coward. Yeah, he can be somewhat strange in front of others, but he would never abandon anyone out of fear. I don't know exactly what happened between you two, but he tried to help us reach his home. I don't care what you say about him, but I don't need sight to see that he is a brave man." Ace defended the sniper. It left the sniper speechless, grasping to find a way to say thank you only to remain speechless.

Reginald didn't say anything else. He was still sitting with an empty look on his face. He tapped his fingers against the book. You could almost see the gears on his brain grinding. He took a deep breath and sighed slowly as he grabbed a small container with some pills. He gulped one down and drank a glass of water until it was empty. No matter how much he drank, his mouth still felt dry.

"What's your name, boy?" He finally spoke.

"Clover, Ace Clover."

"You said you and the big guy want a place to stay for tonight. I'll allow it under one condition."

"Which is…?" The Jovial Guy asked.

"I need to talk with Tod. Alone." Reginald said while putting his book away and crossing his arms.

"Alright, I guess I'll go back to work while you two get comfy or something." Dana said as she took her handbag. "I'll see you tomorrow. Bye." She said goodbye to everyone while Ace and Quinn unpacked some of their belongings and got a new change of clothes.

As the bruiser was grabbing his stuff, he sniffed his jacket, which brought a horrendous odor to his face. "Yuck, I still have that stench from the goddamn sewer."

"If you want a shower, better go to a public bath. This ain't shiny polished Atlas, princess. Water doesn't come cheap here." Reginald said smugly to Quinn.

"Is that so? Whatever... anything is fine as long as I don't have to smell like a wet hog. I suggest you do the same thing, Ace."

"What? I don't want to be butt-naked in front of people." Ace whined in a way that made Quinn turn his head at him. He didn't say anything, but his face just screamed "seriously?"

"You didn't complain back at Atlas, but now? Move your ass already!" Quinn said as he grabbed a set of clean clothes, a toothbrush and a bar of soap.

"Alright, alright, man… we'll be back soon. Hope you don't get killed with that big mouth of yours." Ace said while leaving the house.

"Just in case you die, let me tell you, I still hate your guts." Quinn said in his own manner as he followed the other guy outside, leaving Diamo alone with his uncle.

The sniper dragged in a chair and put it in front of the blind man with a serious look. He sat carefully while Reginald took another sip of water. No one said a word for more than a minute until Diamo put his glasses away.

"Tell me, when you took my sniper rifle without permission, did you put it to good use?"

"I did." The sniper replied.

"Do you still remember the 'Three Rules' I thought you when I thought you to hunt years ago?"

"I still remember them, yes."

"Then let me remind you again just to make sure. Toys are meant to…"

"To be played with by children."

"Weapons are meant to…"

"Kill people."

"And lastly, tools are meant to…"

"To help us survive." Both men recited an old hunter saying, passed down from teacher to student for generations. It was also a common phrase for the people of Vacuo. Reginald extended both hands towards the young man with glasses. The kid acted quickly and put his weapon, 'Predator's Eye' into his uncle's hands. The blind man began to examine it inch by inch with the tip of his fingers. He noticed an unusual yet interesting part that he couldn't recognize. That rifle wasn't the same as the one he had used all those years ago.

"As you can see, this rifle is a tool, one never to be used for recreation or sport. Its only use is to bring food to our tables. It helps us survive from both wild animals as well as the Grimm. It shall never be used to kill people. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

"Clear as day, sir." Diamo said while lowering his head.

"Good. I want you to stick it somewhere in that brain of yours." Reginald gave the weapon back to his nephew. As he did so, it retracted into its portable form. "Now tell me one more thing. From what I heard, you were at Vale for the Vytal Festival. Am I correct?"

"Yes."

"Now answer me. Were any cute girls there?" The blind man cracked a smile.

"I-I suppose." Diamo replied with the same expression, a rare smile in fact.

"Oh, what a surprise. Anyone in particular?"

"W-Well, yeah."

"Don't tell me…is she a human?" His nephew remained quiet, Reginald tried to listen in on his heartbeat for a reaction. "Is she a Faunus?" The sniper's heartbeat increased a little. "Heh, you really are a rascal." Diamo neither denied nor affirmed who he was talking about, but it probably had something to do with a certain bunny he met at Forever Fall. "Alright, that's enough for now. Help me to my bed, kid." Reginald asked his nephew as he put up his arm so he could guide him across the house.

A really weird family, but certainly a strong one nonetheless.

* * *

At the Market District, right behind the alleyways and close to Haven Academy, a mysterious man walked out with a limping leg. It took him a while to jump over the city's wall to get inside. The injuries certainly didn't help. His Aura couldn't heal him even though he regained some of his strength.

As he put his hand against the wall trying to get back on his feet, a pair of delinquents saw him in his weakened state. One was wearing black shades even though it was night while the other one was wearing a surgical mask. They tried to take a chance at the man. "Hey, you, are you feeling well? Give us all you have and we can probably give you some cough syrup or… bandages or something." One of the thugs said with a dishonest smile.

"I'm…fine…just go away." The mysterious man said and kept walking while ignoring them.

"Hey, hey, what's the big idea? This how you answer us after offering some help? It looks like we're gonna leave you worse off instead." As the thug with shades grabbed him by the shoulder, he saw a man covered in scars and stitches all over his face. "What the hell happened to you?" He said in horror while looking at his scarred face.

"The hell is with this freak!? Just take whatever he has and ditch him!" Said the other one who was equally appalled. The guy in shades tried to punch the stranger in the face. As he threw his weak punch, the stranger without much effort managed to parry him into a wall. The thug screamed in pain as the bones in his hand shattered into tiny pieces. The stranger kicked him in the legs and made him fall onto the cold hard floor.

The thug with a mask tried to help his friend with a front kick, but the stranger dodged it with ease by simply sidestepping and using his elbow to break the thug's knee. As the thug with broken knee screamed in pain, the stranger bolted towards him, grabbed him by the collar and threw him against the alley wall.

The stranger saw both delinquents lying on the ground in pain. He picked up their black shades and surgical mask to cover himself to avoid any unnecessary attention. He kept walking, leaving the fate of the delinquents up to luck.

As the stranger approached a small house, he tried to use a key from the corpse he found outside of the wall, but it didn't fit. He tried to think of an alternative. He used the hidden blade on his right wrist to force the door's lock. It opened it without much trouble, but as soon as he peeked inside, he saw a single room with just a table, a bed, a door to the bathroom and a window. It was the most traditional looking apartment in the kingdom.

After closing the door, he inspected the place. It was pretty clear that the man lived alone as it didn't have any interior decorations. The closet didn't have many clothing choices except for a long white hood with a cape and some red strains on it. The bed was pretty close to the ground. Pretty cheap, the stranger though.

After accommodating everything, he took off his boots and bracelets. He sat on the ground and put two Scrolls on the table, his and the dead man's. He started to inspect the other Scroll to see what kind of documents it contained. There were a lot of them but it was hard to decide which one to start with. The one that caught his attention the most was a file titled "Sheriff Leng, Possible Lead".

The file was left incomplete as it didn't even have one full page, but it said the time of when it was written was two days ago. 'Roger Davis' the corpse who the stranger found died not too long ago, but it made the stranger suspicious as to how exactly he got himself into that situation in the first place.

 _"As I was following the Sheriff around the city, I saw him talk to people with spider tattoos and purple clothes. They belonged to a gang but how are they connected with this Sheriff? I'm determined to find out what kind of shady business they must be conducting…"_ The first entry was written more than a week ago. Davis probably couldn't get any new information until the next entry.

 _"I finally got something, he's been doing business with a gang mostly known as 'The Spiders' and so far, Leng has been covering up some of their heinous crimes. It isn't enough to put the good old Sheriff behind bars, though. He has some very influential people under his thumb and probably a ton of other shady connections that could keep him in the clear. I must find something to expose his crimes. I need motives, witness accounts and solid evidence that could finally put Sheriff Yesheng Leng out of his job."_ The entry ended, Davis wrote it three days before being found dead.

The stranger's mind was clear of thought. What appeared to be a classic case of corruption turned out to be something much deeper. He started to look into the other files and the most important one he got was a link to some rumors about missing people all around Mistral. _"So far, the reports of civilians disappearing despite living in the safety of the city walls and their homes have brought an unhealthy paranoia to the local Police Forces. Sheriff Yesheng Leng tried to assure the public that he will find them. Of course, all that is a lie, he probably doesn't even care about them. He just knows something about the disappearances. I have to contact my partner in the city and then…"_ The entry ended abruptly, as something interrupted him. The strange thing was that it was written the same night as the Attack on Haven Academy happened. Last night to be precise.

It was decided, the stranger would continue Davis' investigations and postpone his current objective. Looking for the missing people has taken priority over killing 'The Plague'. "I guess I'll take a break." The stranger said to himself as he lit up a cigarette with an electric lighter he found under the table.


	4. A Divided House IV

**Disclaimer: RWBY Characters, places and terminologies with the exception of the Original Characters, belongs to Rooster Teeth Productions.**

* * *

 **Day 2:**

Early in the morning, Yang walked south of the Market District with her younger sister Ruby. The hooded girl wanted to accompany her sister to see a therapist. "Are you sure you wanna come with me? You don't need to go with me for this." Yang said to her little sister.

"Sure. I want to be with you for this. When Ren told me about your plans, I just couldn't not go with you." Ruby said with concern.

"I really appreciate you are looking after me, but this is something I have to do myself." Yang tried to reassure Ruby with a few head pats. "By the way, you're not alone here. Everyone is around the district doing some shopping too. I will go with you when I'm done, okay?" Yang assured her sister again.

"But I don't want to. I'm pretty worried about you. From what Weiss told me when you finally met your mom, you became a little… agitated."

"Look, I know what my mo…what Raven did is unforgivable, especially when she shot that fireball at you. I was furious at her for so many years, and now I'm even angrier that I know she is nothing more than a coward. I don't want to make the same mistakes as her. I need to get over this myself because I want to protect you now on that I'm back with you." Yang said while putting both hands over Ruby's shoulders and looking directly into her bright silver eyes, glossy like stars in the sky from the tears she was holding back. "Now you know why I'm here. But don't worry about me, we'll do something fun after this, alright?" Ruby nodded at her older sister and embraced her in a warm hug.

"Hey, speaking of fun, wanna go dress shopping with the others?"

"Since when are you interested in dresses?" Yang asked with a confused look.

"It's for the New White Fang party. It's open to the public, and I want to support Blake and have fun with everyone." In spite of Ruby's excitement for the event, Yang wasn't really that into it. She didn't want to cause an awkward situation. Somehow she couldn't find the strength in her heart to approach her cat Faunus friend.

"I don't know. I mean, I know it's a gala but are you sure we should go?"

"Come on. I just wanna go shopping with my sister and friends. We can at least eat something on our way." Ruby started making puppy eyes at her sister, which made the blonde girl comply to her demands. Emotional extortion at it's finest.

"If you insist. We'll see what Mistral's latest fashion has to offer." Yang said with a smile as they approached the appointed place. It was a small disheveled house rather than a clinic or anything you'd might expect from a therapist. "I guess this is where we part. If you find a great place where we can eat after shopping, send me a message."

"Alrighty, see you later." Ruby walked away, leaving Yang to attend her first session. It brought her back to a memory she had with her dad, Tai about talking to a therapist. Back then, she didn't listen to him and dismissed his concerns, but now. She couldn't know exactly how things would go for her once she stepped inside.

As Yang rang the bell, she noticed the plate that had, 'DR. LAWRENCE CARMINE, PSYCHIATRIST AND PROSTHETICS EXPERT' engraved on it. She recalled the reviews when she checked him out on her Scroll. It didn't look like anything she expected, then again, she knew better than to judge a book by its cover.

"One moment, please." She heard a man's voice boom through the intercom. Yang heard someone stumbling down the stairs from behind the door.

The doorknob turned and slowly opened. A cowboy with a prosthetic right arm not too different from her own walked out of the house and passed Yang, giving her a single glance. He spelled trouble in massive letters. In spite of his malevolent appearance, the blonde could feel that somehow he and she were not so different.

"Hello, what can I do for you?" A middle-aged man was standing on the door. He gave Yang a warm greeting.

"Dr. Carmine?" She asked.

"The one and only. Are you here for an appointment?"

"Yes."

"Then this is your lucky day. I don't have anyone at the moment. Come in. Please take a seat. I'll get us some tea." The psychiatrist let the blonde girl inside.

Yang checked out the interior. It was clean and comfy with a lot of space, just big enough for one person. She was expecting the place to be messy, but she was wrong. The good doctor was preparing some tea while Yang got comfortable on the couch, waiting for Dr. Carmine to start the session. She began to wonder if it was a good idea to come here in the first place.

"Okay, I'm here." Dr. Carmine came with a teapot, two cups, and a plate of cookies. "Would you like some tea? I have cookies with raisins too."

"I'm fine, thanks." Yang rejected the offer politely.

"Alright, let's start." The psychiatrist put a piece of paper, a pen, and a recorder on the table. He pressed the device's button, and a red light started beeping. "Patient 50, I would like you to tell me your name, your age, blood type, and the cause of your limb loss. Any additional information you would like to share, you must write on this piece of paper on the table. It isn't obligatory, but any details you write down might be helpful for your future sessions."

"Alright, my name is Yang Xiao Long, I'm 18 years old, my blood type is O Positive, and I, umm…" Yang was hesitant to reply to the last part. She tried not to say anything.

"If you are uncomfortable with saying it, you can write it down instead." On Dr. Carmine's suggestions, Yang decided to write down the experience. She was trying to use her left hand but was having difficulties. It was moving quite irregularly. The psychiatrist carefully observed the way the patient was writing with difficulty. It didn't take much time to write it down.

"Now, tell me, when did you lose your arm?"

"Last year, during the Fall of Beacon." She replied with stress in her voice.

"Beacon, huh? I guess it wasn't a pleasant experience for anyone there." Dr. Carmine commented as he was sitting with his arms crossed. His patient remained silent.

"It wasn't. It was just my first year studying there. I never thought it could turn out like that." Yang began to speak while looking at the floor. "Sometimes, I wish that things could go back to like they were before."

"No need to fret. It's a normal thing to think about. You'd be surprised how hard it is to grasp reality. I know you're not comfortable, but I need you to tell me in exact detail what happened there."

"Doc, I'm fine. Stuff just went wrong. Nothing more to say." She kept her eyes down. The sight alone made Dr. Carmine sigh.

"It is important that you tell me of what happened that day. This is the 'Process of Regression,' which means you need to remember and think about the incident. It is a painful process, but it is effective for the most part."

"I'm fine. There's no need."

"You can't keep quiet about that. You NEED to tell me…"

"I SAID I'M FINE!" Yang stood up and yelled at the psychiatrist. He saw her eyes turning red and gazed at her hair started glowing brightly as if they enveloped in golden flames.

"Alright, take it easy. If you don't want to talk about now, you can talk later. This is our first session, after all." The good doctor tried to calm the blonde girl down. She slowly sat on the couch again.

"Sorry, I…"

"It's alright. It's normal to feel anger. Would you mind if I asked you something different?" Dr. Carmine asked Yang, to which she replied with a simple nod. "Tell me, after losing your arm, how do you feel about yourself?"

"If I'm completely honest, Doc, I don't know anymore. I thought that I was fine after I left home to join my sister and friends here, but..."

"Where is your home? If you don't mind sharing, of course."

"I'm from a little island west of Vale, Patch. I was born and raised there with my father and younger sister."

"What about your mother?" Carmine's questions made Yang break eye contact.

"It's complicated. I'd avoid it for now…"

"I understand. Alright then, what kind of home is Patch to you?"

"I'd say it's the most normal you can expect when you live on an island. It has a forest, a few kind neighbors, a combat school and lots of Grimm roaming the area." She said with a weak smile. "I feel that living on Patch makes me feel safe. Even with Grimm around, they are never much trouble for us. They don't last long and don't even go near our homes. It's a bit weird, but that little piece of land makes me think it's the safest place in Remnant." The blonde girl said while taking a deep breath, blowing a few strands of her hair away from her eyes.

Dr. Carmine looked at Yang in a very analytical manner. What she said and did, it brought the psychiatrist some understanding about the troubled huntress' situation. In spite of trying to look tough, she had some deep-rooted issues, just like someone else he knew.

"Alright, I think I have an exercise for you. It might be a little unorthodox, but it will help you progress in between sessions." Dr. Carmine said as he took some notes from his pocket and started reading off some appropriate ideas for his patient. "As you can see, you only feel calm when you are at your home or when you have things that might remind you of it. You mentioned your younger sister is here, right? I'd like you to be with her more. It can bring you a strong feeling of home."

"That is an odd way to suggest an exercise." Yang replied by raising an eyebrow.

"It is an effective method. As I see it, you are a very supportive person, but you might want to change things around. You need people around you. It is a problem that can't be dealt with alone. And it is extremely crucial that you get your anger under control. It can make things worse for you." The psychiatrist insisted to the blond girl. She didn't bother to argue with him with how things were at the moment. "I would like you to come here tomorrow. Same time. It's going to be a long process, but you don't have to worry."

"Alright, I guess. How much for the session?" Yang asked as she was pulling out her wallet.

"There's no need for that." Dr. Carmine said as he stopped the recording and put the papers in a new folder.

"Huh? Why you don't need it?" Yang asked with a confused look.

"I only need people's sessions for my research. This kind of stuff shouldn't be monetized. It's a common problem in this profession. I just want you to be careful out there, alright?" Yang nodded to the doctor, they shook hands, and the blonde girl walked out of the house. Dr. Carmine let out a long sigh as he drank his tea. Oddly enough, he didn't have an exhausting session with a patient for the longest time. Last he could think of was probably two years ago.

"Is everything alright? I heard some yelling." Lucy asked her father when she walked out of the room.

"This poor girl. From what I could tell by her behavior, she seems to be a mess. She said she lost her arm back at Vale during the Fall."

"That was almost a last year." Lucy commented.

"Indeed. She didn't get a single therapy session. I'm surprised she adapted to a robotic arm without going through the process first."

"That is pretty strange. Not even Jack could handle a new arm until a full month of therapies."

"He is still not recovered. This girl, Yang, she has a lot of suppressed anger. I fear that she could literally explode at any moment." Dr. Carmine said while eating some cookie. His daughter looked at him with a disappointed frown.

"Alright, lay off the snacks, old man."

"But this is my breakfast."

"I'll make you something before I head out. Jack and I got enough on our hands this morning as is. Cleaning this place isn't one of them." The redhead girl said while taking the cookies and tea away from the good doctor.

"I have to admit, you've turned this place into a palace. It's a lot cozier than it ever was. Oh, to think when you two get your own place." Dr. Carmine said with a laugh while his daughter blushed profusely. He stood up and went to the bathroom, leaving Lucy alone with her thought.

Even though her father's comment was embarrassing, she couldn't help but smile at the thought. _'Maybe…'_ She thought while heading to the kitchen.

* * *

"Hey, Rusty, open up!" Quinn was knocking on the door of a pawn shop named "PAWN IT" close to the Arts and Entertainments District, the most tourist-heavy part of Mistral.

"Are you sure this guy is gonna give us money for that?" Ace asked the bruiser, who seemed to have woken up on the wrong side of the bed that morning.

"He better. I'm literally his number one customer. You don't wanna know how much crap I bought and sold in his goddamn store." Quinn commented while continuously knocking on the door to the point that he charged his Semblance by accident.

"The store is still closed, go away!" They heard a voice behind the door.

"Don't give me that crap. I know you're just lazy."

"What the…?" Someone opened a small gap on the door. Only their eyes were visible. "You? What the hell are you doing in Mistral?"

"Oh, you know, I heard it was a nice place to go sightseeing. None of that concerns you! Are you gonna open up or not?" Quinn said with his arms crossed.

"Give me one second." Rusty closed the gap and went to look for the keys.

"Well, I guess you can handle the rest. I'll be around if you need me." Ace said while patting Quinn on the back.

"Don't go fooling around like a damn tourist. Remember what we're doing today."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll get a job." The jovial guy said as he walked away from the store to explore the district farther.

'Seriously, I still don't get how you can be like this all the time' Quinn thought while shaking his head. The door started to open up, revealing a guy with an unshaved beard and orange hair with yellow highlights. The bruiser stepped inside while Rusty looked around if to check if there weren't any suspicious people.

"Now, tell me, when did you arrive?" Rusty asked with a neurotic look.

"Just last night. This city is a mess. How can people even live like this?"

"That's life in Mistral for you. How's your grandpa? I suppose he's still the same old barking dog."

"You know, I haven't seen him in like, five years. What about you and that surgeon guy? Don't suppose you two broke it off."

"We didn't. I've been waiting here all day for the workaholic of my boyfriend to come back. He hasn't returned my calls or messages."

"Don't get me wrong, it's wonderful to hear about your love life and all, but I need to do some business right now."

"You wouldn't know anything about how love works even if it hit you in the face with a hammer." The two guys were berating each other endlessly. "Okay, enough banter... what do you want? Imported parts? Some new shoes? An anger management book?"

"I'm here to pawn this." Quinn started to take off his earring and put it next to the cash register. Rusty was surprised beyond belief.

"Are you kidding me? Tell me, did you finally succumb to madness or something? I'm not buying that!" Rusty said with a somewhat hysterical tone.

"What? Is it worth too little?"

"It's worth TOO much! I can't give you money for this thing!"

"Why not!?" Quinn asked annoyingly.

"This costs more than my own store! I don't have that kind of cash to give you right now!"

"So what? Do you have a better suggestion on where I can get some money? Or do you wanna be my piggy bank?"

"Well…" Rusty said while touched his chin. "I do manage a credit system between me and some of my connections around the city. This an exclusive offer for only my most loyal customers."

"Now we're talking. Because I do need to get us some supplies."

"Well, I can't guarantee anything since it's a secret. You can't tell anybody of this by the way. Not even those clowns you call a team."

"Yeah, yeah, just give me what I need already. Could you at least borrow me some cash? We just need a bit of Lien to buy some stuff."

"Sure. But what are you buying for that type of cash?" The pawn shop owner asked Quin as he grabbed his accounting notebook for the transaction.

"Ah, you know, money for supplies and stuff. By the way, do you know anyone who can rent us a house? It's for two of my friends."

"I might know someone. He couldn't find any new people to rent that place."

"Call him, give me the address and use some of that credit to pay the first month. I'll come back if I need anything else." Quinn said to the store owner as he took the money and left. Rusty dialed a number on his Scroll. While waiting for the person to respond, he gazed at a framed picture of him and his boyfriend holding a surgeon's diploma.

Meanwhile, somewhere else in Mistral.

 _'Where is he? This is driving me crazy.'_ He thought.

* * *

"Can we get that?"

"No."

"What about that one? This looks cheaper."

"Sorry, it doesn't look fresh."

"How about that one? I want it fried."

"Nora, we are doing a BBQ." Ren said to his girlfriend as they were walking through the Market District. Jaune was following behind them carrying some of their shopping bags filled with stuff the team bought. He was listening in on their banter about what they should cook for everyone. They were laughing about it more than they were arguing.

Jaune gave a weak smile. He looked somewhere else. He saw how busy the district was that day. It would have been easy to get lost among the crowd.

"Huh?" A look of shock and bewilderment overtook his face. Among the crowd, he saw a woman with long red hair and green eyes walking through the bleak mob. "Pyrrha?" He muttered under his breath while rubbing his eyes. Looking back at the crowd, he couldn't see the girl. It was as if she was never even there. 'I think I'm losing my mind.' He thought.

"Is everything alright? You've been awfully quiet lately." Ren asked his leader.

"I…it's nothing. I was just… lost in thought."

"About what?" Nora asked. Jaune wasn't sure what to say not to ruin the mood.

"We could combine both types of cooking instead of choosing one." He said while trying to deviate the topic back to them.

"We can only try one or the other. I say BBQ is the best option. We already eat something fried yesterday."

"But we didn't try fried sashimi! We could get it now that it's cheap!"

"But the beef is in a limited sale. It's two for one. We can afford enough for everyone..." Ren and Nora kept talking about what to make. Jaune felt that they were having a good time just by themselves. The blond knight thought it was best for him to go home and leave them alone to enjoy the rest of the day.

"Hey guys."

"What?" Ren asked.

"I was thinking... Maybe I could take the shopping bags back to the house."

"Are you sure? We're still not done with buying stuff." Nora said.

"I'm fine. I need to do some training anyways, so it's not a big deal." Jaune started taking the bags from Ren's hands. With so many bags in his arms, he looked like a mule. "Don't worry about me. I'll see you later."

"Alright, take care!" Nora waved her hand at Jaune as he walked away. He had a difficult time trying to keep the stuff from falling out of his hands, but he continued regardless.

Minutes later, Ren's Scroll started to ringing in his pocket, he pulled it out and pressed a button.

 _"Hey…"_ It was Weiss' voice. _"Do you know any good weapon store in this city?"_

"Sorry, I don't have a clue…" Ren replied.

"Oh, oh, I know!" Nora, on the other hand, said with unbridled enthusiasm. "I know this one place called 'LOCK N' LOUD'! It's in the Arts and Entertainment District."

 _"There? Why in that district?"_ Weiss asked in confusion. It was a rather odd location for a weapon store.

"Why? Don't you think weapons are themselves magnificent works of art? The people of Mistral do! You can get a lot of things there."

 _"Right…"_ They could hear her sarcasm through the Scroll.

* * *

"…Are you sure this place has any good Dust and weapon parts?" The girl with white hair asked calmly.

 _"I absolutely positively know this place has what you need. Where do you think I got the parts for my sweet Magnhild!"_ Nora said with high praise. Weiss knew that if her energetic friend's hammer was anything to go by, the store probably sold a lot of what she needed.

"Well, I'll see for myself. Thanks for the suggestion."

 _"No Problemo!"_ Nora said while ending the conversation.

Weiss entered the store. It looked bigger than expected from the outside. As she observed all the shelves and decorations, she noticed the stock was so overstocked and varied that it would even take someone like Ruby a whole day just to look around. "Good thing she isn't here." The former heiress said to herself and let out a small laugh.

She grabbed a basket and pulled out a piece of paper with a list of items she needed: A new chamber for Myrtenaster, Dust resistant screws, tempered springs, a butt ton of Dust, and some weapon oil. Pretty much the basics when it came to maintenance.

"Ugh, this Dust must be the defected, they sell at cheaper prices. What were they thinking!?" Weiss commented in disgust as she inspected the product's quality. Those samples weren't at all up to Schnee Dust Company standards. She found it amusing that they would allow such a thing. She began picking the few acceptable pieces from the batch of rejected.

While the Dust wasn't precisely what she hoped for, she didn't have any issues with looking for weapon parts. Most of them were relatively new. Fresh from storage, she could see how shiny the parts were. She believed it was made of something called Achrom, a very flexible metal. No scratches or horrible smells were indicating they weren't used before. At least those didn't disappoint.

"Alright, what else am I missing?" She asked herself while looking at the list. The last thing she needed was 'Pete's Original Lubricating Oil.' It was known all around Remnant as the best oil for maintaining weapons. Generations of Huntsmen loved the brand. Weiss began looking for it in the right hallway, but the selection was so big that even for an organizer like Weiss was challenging to find.

"Come on, where is that bottle?" She said with a pained grimace as she observed the cheaper oils along the way. "Aha!" She finally found a bottle. Luckily for her, it was the last one. She rushed there to pick it up before someone else could get it. As her hand reached for it, another hand appeared trying to grab the bottle at the same time. "What?"

"Hey! I saw it first!" A guy with a scar on the left side of his jaw said in annoyance.

"What are you talking about? I touched it first!" She replied while trying to pull the bottle towards her.

"Oh yeah? I need this more. My goddamn weapon broke!"

"Hpmh. I'm not surprised a thug as you would need it. With that Dust, you might as well just get a new weapon each month."

"Look who's talking, snowflake. I'd never expected someone like you to be such a cheapskate." The guy with the scar looked into Weiss' basket. He inspected it closely. The weapon parts, in particular, caught his interest.

"What are you talking about?" Weiss asked with an upset attitude. The big guy took the weapon part from her basket. "Hey! Give it back!"

"Yeah, yeah. Shut up for a minute. Do you have any idea what this is?"

"Of course. It's a refined multi-barrel chamber saber forged from a very high-quality metal..."

"What kind of metal?"

"Achrom."

"EEEEHH! Wrong answer, Snowflake!" He said while giving her a thumbs down. "This piece of trash is made of aluminum. Unless you want a fireworks show, this thing will do nothing but break down at first contact with any type of Dust."

"That's ridiculous. I know this part is made of Achrom." The former heiress said. The big guy decided it was time for a demonstration. He grabbed some Dust and put it on the weapon part. He began shaking it violently until he created a reaction. Not only did the Ice Dust explode at the first sign of friction, but the ice also destroyed the weapon part. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? She yelled in anger.

"I wanted proof that you weren't kidding. This Dust really is of bad quality, but it'll certainly do the job. Also, as you can see, this thing is busted. The metal is correctly tempered, and so it builds up static. You're lucky it wasn't around your belt." He gave Weiss a quick demonstration about the weapon part. She was surprised that he was so knowledgeable.

"I can't believe it." She muttered.

"Tell me about it…" The guy with the scar started walking away with angry eyes and an imposing attitude.

"Where are you going?'

"To file a complaint. This place offers junkyard parts. Smells like a scam to me." The big guy kept walking away. His mind was already so filled up with annoyance that he left the bottle of weapon oil behind. Weiss took the chance and reclaimed it for herself.

Even though she had to deal with the rude guy, she could hardly admit that she was almost scammed into taking a low-quality part. 'How embarrassing.' She thought while shaking her head. _'I hope I never have to see his face again.'_

* * *

"Are you done?" Ruby asked Yang through her Scroll.

 _"I am, would you like to get something to eat on the way? It's still early."_ Her older sister's voice said with some delight.

"Sure do, but where?"

 _"I…I'm not sure yet, let me look for something first. I'll call you when I find something. Okay?"_ Yang replied with an unusual timidness.

"Sure. See ya," Ruby and Yang were done talking and hang up their Scrolls. The hooded girl was worried if Yang's first session went good for her.

Ruby was wandering around the district by herself. Almost all her friends were busy at the moment, and Qrow couldn't accompany them. He told her he would be busy doing errands around Mistral. Oscar decided to train alone for a while at home. Blake was still busy with her parents and the New White Fang Gala. It was clear that she didn't have anything to do at the moment.

Ruby wandered aimlessly through the main street. She was thinking a lot, to the point that she accidentally got lost in her thoughts and ended up getting lost. She looked at her Scroll and brought up Mistral's map. She wasn't really far from where she left Yang at. She sat on a bench and watched as people passed her by. She was feeling great knowing that they were able to stop the attack on Haven two days ago. It wasn't long before something in the crowd caught the hooded girl's eye.

"Mom?" Ruby said as she saw someone with a white hood and cape walk out of the alleyways. She stood up and followed the hooded figure in pursuit. She acted out of instinct. Ruby was sure that it couldn't possibly be Summer, but that didn't stop her from following them anyway.

"Huh?" After making a turn around a corner, she saw the person on the ground with a basket right next to them. Ruby didn't imagine things. The person wore a pure white hood that was now stained with blood and gravel. "Are you alright?" She asked the man on the ground.

"Mhhhhggg…" He tried to reply, but he wasn't looking too good. Ruby noticed his arms got bandages. It looked like he got injured somewhere. "I… I'm fine." He tried to stand up by himself, but the most he could do was pull himself up on his knees.

"You look like you're in really bad shape. Let me help you." Ruby tried to carry the basket for him, but he swiftly and gently grabbed it from her.

"That's not necessary... I can do it myself." He said as he was putting his hand against a wall to help him get back on his feet. He wasn't well enough to keep his balance and fell. Ruby saw no other choice and decided to help him. She got close to him, and with a slight heave, she lifted the man onto her shoulders. "Wow. You have... a lot of... upper body strength... for a little girl. " He complimented the innocent looking girl.

"Aw, thank you. It's really nothing.." Ruby let out an embarrassing laugh. "If I may, could you tell me your name, sir?"

"You can call me Sal. And what do they call you?"

"Ruby Rose."

"Ruby Rose. Heh, not a bad name. My house is not too far from here. You can drop me off there." Sal said while guiding the hooded girl through the alleyways.


	5. A Divided House V

**Disclaimer: RWBY Characters, places and terminologies with the exception of the Original Characters, belongs to Rooster Teeth Productions.**

* * *

"Where's Dana? She's late again!" Nori asked Starlock as he mopped the floor of the establishment before they opened.

"She's probably still sleeping or goofing off at the Market District again." The rooster Faunus replied and took a sip of cranberry juice. "She's lucky we're closed for the day. After that party from last night, I'm surprised the building is still standing."

"Yeah, but Natto and I told everyone to come anyway, just to clean this place. I don't want Chief Belladonna's people coming here to see this mess." He said with a grumpy tone. "What about you? You're just sitting there. Grab something and help me. What am I, a maid!?"

"I'm the owner, you know. I can't waste my energy on such trivial tasks that don't require any of my artistic knowledge."

"You're the owner only on paper! All of us, well, most of us are obligated to help this place one way or another."

"Well, excuuuuuuuse me! What do you expect me to do then?" Tiny Nori handed Starlock a bucket and a brush. "What is this?"

"Clean the restrooms at least." The panda Faunus said bluntly, something that made the well-dressed Faunus scoff.

"This is insulting, you can't make me do that!"

"That's true, I can't." Nori took Starlock's glass of juice and drank it. "Natto can do that."

"This is preposterous!"

"It's either that or helping Sheldon in the kitchen?"

"Are you serious? The kitchen is filthy. It looks like bandits raided it!"

"Make your choice, or we won't let you get on stage ever again."

"I-I… oh, fine, give me that dirty bucket." The rooster Faunus complained while begrudging swearing behind his teeth.

"Don't forget to put this on if you don't want to ruin your suit." Nori handed a pin apron to the "talented" rooster Faunus. He took it and went directly into the restrooms with an angry expression. The bartender kept cleaning the rest of the place.

Sher's Wood wasn't looking that great, but yesterday the place got the biggest number of guests in a single night than in the last five years in total. They couldn't ask for more of exceptional business.

Nori started to imagine the kind of publicity they could receive if the New White Fang would hang out here more often. Who knows, maybe even the humans might get interested in the pub too.

"More people meant more business, but that would mean more staff would be needed." Nori thought that Dana and himself being the waiters was enough to keep the place afloat. He couldn't ask the girls from the band to help them either since their music was the primary source of entertainment.

Natto was always busy with paperwork. Sheldon was getting pretty slow for his age, and Starlock couldn't do anything useful at all. They needed more people for the place, or so Tiny Nori thought.

Moments later, the panda Faunus heard someone coming through the front door. "Dana, is that you? You know what happens when you're late for…huh?" Before he could say anything else, Nori saw that Dana was not alone, she was accompanied by a young man with glasses and a camo fatigues who was standing behind her. "Tod?" He said with surprise.

"Hey, Nori. It's been a while." Diamo greeted while waving modestly.

"Sorry for being late, we had to attend to some stuff before coming here." Dana tried to excuse herself.

"When did you get to Mistral?"

"Last night. It wasn't exactly a simple task." Diamo said while he pushed his glasses back.

"It's a surprise. What brought you back? We thought you were still up in Atlas." Nori questioned the reserved sniper.

"Just some... complications."

"What kind of complications?"

"It's nothing grave, you know." Dana tried to deviate the conversation to avoid any unnecessary information. "You know that people from Atlas are kinda losing their minds right now, my poor little brother couldn't bear it, so he decided to come here and stay in Mistral for a while." The waitress' claims didn't sound all that convincing, but Nori didn't mind. It wasn't hard to believe that Atlas would be a riot after what happened in Vale.

"So you're going to stay, huh? I guess it's nice to have you back."

"By the way, the reason Tod is with me now is that he wanted to say hi before going out looking for a job."

"A job? Why not work with us? You know that Natto is the one in charge of hiring. He could give you one right away." As the panda Faunus crossed his arms while thinking, they saw the manager walking downstairs. "Speak of the devil."

"N-Nori, did Dana finally c-come to work?" Natto asked.

"Yep, and she's not alone. Look who the fox dragged in." The tanuki Faunus focused his eyes at the twins. He was surprised to see a face he hasn't seen in a very long time.

"T-Tod?"

"Hello."

"It's n-nice s-seeing you ag-g-gain."

"The feeling is mutual. I noticed that your stuttering isn't as bad as before."

"Why t-thank you, I've been p-p-practicing lately. What b-brought you here?"

"Tod just wants to say hi. He's on his way to look for a job." Dana said, basically begging.

"You know we might need some help right now, especially during night-shifts." Nori suggested, influencing Natto's decision.

"Y-Yeah. But I think we c-can only offer n-night-shifts. I can't p-pay you as much as other p-places since we are u-undergoing some ch-changes." The manager explained. "Other than t-that, it'll be n-nice to have you b-back."

"I really appreciate both of you for welcoming me again. Sadly, I'll have to find something different in the meantime." Diamo said politely.

"E-Even if you d-don't want to w-work here, you c-could still help us with an e-e-event. It'll be a one-and-d-d-done job."

"What kind of event?" Diamo asked.

"A gala, we need more people for just one night. We can pay you more than the usual hours since it's a lot of work." Nori commented in detail about the job. Diamo started to consider the offer.

"Well, I guess I could use the extra Lien. It'll take me a while to get a job. I accept your offer."

"That's g-great to hear. Let's get t-to my o-office so I can p-put you on the l-list." Natto told the sniper in glasses to follow him to his office to sign some papers. It was clear that working as a waiter won't earn him enough to cover the expenses for one night. Diamo thought about looking for another job during the mornings regardless.

"Well, it's nice of having him here again, don't you think?" Dana commented to Nori.

"It really is. At least I don't have to worry that he'll slack off."

"Hey! I don't slack off! I…meditate to recenter my Aura... yeah... that's why."

"Sure, it is." Nori rolled his eyes. "Since you are here, I need you to go do some errands. We're a little low on ingredients."

"Do I have to? I just arrived…" Dana groaned.

"It's either that or helping Sheldon clean the kitchen."

"Ehhh… no thanks. I'm off then…" She said as Nori gave her a list. The list had the names and pictures of the supplies they need for the place. Without saying anything else, Dana left the pub. Nori went back to mopping the floor.

Starlock, distressed, wet, and dirty walked out of the restroom with his suit all ruined. Nori started scratching his head. He couldn't comprehend how the rooster Faunus managed to do that.

"Uhhh… Should I ask what happened?" Nori asked the flamboyant Faunus.

"Don't, please…Now, if you'll excuse me, I need a bubble bath." Starlock frowned as he walked away.

* * *

"So, this is the address, right?" Jack asked Lucy as they arrived at a house wedged right between the Arts District and Haven Academy.

"That's what Quinn said when he told me about this place. Now, you remember what to say, right?"

"Yeah, but I'm not a good actor, though." The cowboy said while adjusting his hat.

"Act as we usually do. Just do couple stuff." Lucy said while grabbing her boyfriend's left arm.

"Couple stuff? I mean I'm brave and all, but here?"

"I meant like holding hands and stuff, you fool." The redhead said, almost condescendingly.

"Oh… okay." Jack sighed. "Let's get this over with." The couple started knocking on the door. They waited for someone to open. "No one's home." The cowboy commented.

"The owner probably just didn't get the message, let's come back later." As they turned their backs to the house and walked away, they heard footsteps coming from inside the house. The door opened, showing a man in his early 50's, thick glasses and ridiculous hair.

"Yeah? What do you want?" He asked the couple, clearly annoyed.

"Sorry to bother you, but we came to see the house." Jack told the owner in a calm tone.

"Oh, so you are the ones that I've been told about. I didn't expect you to come so early."

"We just want to see the house, if it's not much trouble for you." Lucy said impatiently.

"I guess you can, but let me tell you that it isn't pretty all that pretty from the inside." He said with much disdain on the inside. He let the couple inside the house. For a one-story home, it didn't look like it had the best hygienic conditions. The wooden floor needed some polish, and the paint was falling from the walls. It made the couple a little worried. The place looked big enough for everyone, but it would still need some work.

"What happened here?" Jack asked the owner about the house's condition.

"A trio of punks that rented this place and trashed it before leaving!"

"That sounds troublesome…" Lucy commented as she kicked some empty cans that were thrown on the floor.

"It is! Those pigs caused me a lot of trouble for quite some time! I had enough when they couldn't pay the rent on time but moving out without even telling me was the last drop!" The man kept ranting on to the point that the couple was getting annoyed.

"Well, at least they're gone. We assure you that we won't cause you any issues." Jack said as he took off his hat, trying to come off as humble and trustworthy.

"I hope so…" the owner ranted until his scroll started to ring non-stop. "I will be back. I need to take this. Feel free to look around. If you still want it, that is." He said before stepping out of the house, leaving Jack and Lucy alone. The mood wasn't as romantic as they hoped it would be. Standing in a disheveled place like this left someone with feelings of disgust rather than hope or love. Thankfully, none of the guys were around to see it. Ace would have said something stupid, Quinn would have complained, and Diamo would be anyone's guess.

"Lovely, isn't it?" Lucy said sarcastically.

"Look on the bright side. Beats your father's cramped house."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." The redheaded girl started walking around and inspected the interior. Kitchen, living room, bedrooms, bathrooms. No matter where they looked, it was a mess from top to bottom. It took them a couple of minutes to see the house. Their expectations weren't exactly fulfilled.

"I would hardly call this place adequate." Jack said with disappointment.

"No kidding… I'll tell Quinn to find a better place, or else he's getting a whupping by me."

"Convincing…" The cowboy sighed as he looked at the city through the window. The space between the buildings and the place made him uneasy.

"Something wrong?" Lucy asked her boyfriend. He looked troubled for some reason.

"Not much, just living in the middle of a populated area makes me feel uneasy." He said, unable to separate his eyes from the window.

"Feeling homesick?"

"Maybe…? I never liked being in big cities. Neither Vale nor Atlas felt cozy to me." Jack said while pacing around the horrific building. He could hear his footsteps make the wooden floor creak underneath him. "Huh?" He exclaimed when something odd caught his attention.

"You heard that, too, right?" Lucy asked while looking at the floor.

"Yeah, I wonder what it could be." Jack kneeled to touch one of the planks on the floor. He knocked on it to check if it wasn't hollow or something. Much to his surprise, he could feel a small breeze coming through the gaps. "Mhhh, this is... peculiar." He said with interest.

"Is that what I think?"

"You can bet it is." Jack pulled out a small pellet from his pocket. He dropped it between the gaps to see how long it would take them to reach the bottom. As he counted the seconds, the pellet made small echoes underneath the floor. It made the couple very suspicious. "There's something below us."

"Should we ask the owner if he knows about this?"

"Probably, but we must ask him to confirm it first. I have a feeling that the previous tenants did a lot more than just trash this place." Jack stood up and moved some of the cans and bags to block the gaps. "I guess we could rent this place first before inspecting what's in there."

"Right. We could get Saber here to inspect, just in case." Lucy pointed out a viable strategy while checking if the landlord was done talking through the window. He ended the call right before she looked and only saw him walk inside. He opened the door to see how the couple was doing.

"So, what do you think?" He asked.

"I have a question."

"Go ahead, Miss."

"Does this house have a basement?" Lucy's question made the landlord raise an eyebrow.

"Basement, what made you think that?"

"Curiosity. We want to make a game room for our guests." The redheaded girl tried to come up with an excuse for the confused man.

"Don't be ridiculous. Mistral's water levels aren't good for underground structures. We're just too close to a lake. Besides, some laws and sanctions forbid me from even attempting to make one." He said with annoyance. If anything he said was true, he probably doesn't even have a clue what's below them.

"Thank you for your answer. I've run the offer over with my 'fiancé,' and we've decided we're renting this place."

"Are you sure? This place is filthy. It might fall apart any second." The landlord said with surprise.

"We're going to clean it for you. You don't have to worry about paying for any cleaning services or things like that." Jack said to the old man in hopes of reassuring him.

"Well, if that's what you want. I recommend you start cleaning as soon as you can. I just can't deal with the looks of this goddamn dump. Stupid shitty junkyard…" He began swearing like there no tomorrow. At least Quinn had some manners when it came to his language, for the most part.

"You don't have to worry about us. We'll leave this house so clean enough that an Atlesian commander will lick it." The cowboy's words made the landlord feel queasy.

"That's good, but I don't want people licking the floors!"

"He wasn't literal." Lucy said while facepalming herself.

"Whatever. Just leave this place clean tomorrow, and I'll let you rent it. No questions asked!" The angry landlord pulled a pair of keys from his pocket and extended them towards the couple. "Don't lose them, and I don't have any spares." Lucy and Jack picked up the keys and said farewell to the man before he left the house.

After meeting the 'charming' man, none of them understood what his deal was. He probably just had another bad day, they thought. The couple sighed as they tried to look around a little longer before going somewhere else.

"That solves the housing issue, but I still need to look for a job." Jack said while taking off his hat and scratching his head.

"I can help you out. My dad knows some people around the area that might hire you."

"I appreciate the help, but I'm fine looking for one on my own, Lucy." The cowboy said modestly, although that didn't save him from his girlfriend's wrath. And by wrath, it meant pinching his cheeks till they turned red as usual. "Oww!" He screamed in agony at how much force she pinched him with. It didn't help that her Semblance made him feel pain multiplied by ten.

"Don't act so macho around me, cowboy. We don't have much time to look for one without raising suspicion. Take my suggestion, or I'll give you the 'Lucy Treatment'." The redheaded girl said with a somewhat menacing tone. Jack had nothing but cold sweat from hearing her. He knew fully well how much a 'Lucy Treatment' could hurt, and so did many others, who've opposed Lucy Carmine.

"Oww… Alright, I guess it wouldn't hurt asking."

"I knew you would listen." Lucy said before pecking Jack on the cheek. Despite her somewhat abrasive nature, the cowboy wasn't bothered about it. He chuckled at the moment.

"Before looking for a job, would you like to hang out? I saw this small festival around the Market District earlier. I want to win some prizes in the booths."

"Sure. I guess we could use some downtime before tomorrow's cleaning. Besides, never hurts to get in more target practice." The cowboy said without compliance.

* * *

"Man, I forgot how much stuff happens around here." Sage commented as he and Scarlet were trying to enjoy the small festival.

"Although I wish it wasn't so empty 'cause of what happened." Scarlet commented while eating his cotton candy.

"You could say that we saved ourselves from that. Well, I wished we were there when Haven was attacked." The tattooed teenager said regretfully.

"You don't have to worry, at least nothing bad happened." The pretty teenager tried to reassure his teammate by giving him a pat on the back.

"Thanks man." Sage said with a smile.

"No worries, let me get you something to drink." Scarlet started to reach into his back pocket to look for his wallet. However, he felt as if something was wrong. "What? Where's my wallet?" He said desperately as he turned his pockets inside out.

As he was looking for it, someone above them whistled loudly. They turned their heads to see who was calling them. This person was a Faunus girl with a fox tail. She was sitting on top of one of the booths.

"Hey, guys…" She said cheerfully while playing with a very familiar looking wallet.

"Oh, not you again." Sage facepalmed. "Would you give him his wallet back? We just want to enjoy the day after yesterday's long trip."

"You know the rules. I'll give it back if you can catch me!" She stood up and started running away from them. She jumped over more booths on her way. She was fast, it was impossible for the Huntsmen in training to match her agility without their weapons for added mobility. And after what happened at Haven, using their Semblances would have been a bad idea in general. Not to mention, it would technically be cheating.

"Should we go after her?" Scarlet asked.

"Maybe, but I guess that won't be necessary." Sage crossed his arms and smirked. Neither of them moved from their place and just watched her get away.

The Faunus kept running away, jumping over rooftops and traversing the area in style. She looked behind her to see if they were chasing her. Unsurprising for her, they were too slow.

"Well, that was just way too easy." She said with a disappointed sigh. "What is this? I'm so bored I feel like I'm playing on single-player."

"Would you prefer two-player?" Another voice came from behind her. A guy with blond hair, an open white shirt, and a monkey tail was hanging upside down from a rope. "Long time no see, Dana." He said jovially.

"Sun! When did you come back?" Dana asked with surprise on her eyes.

"Two days ago, I arrived alongside that huge mob from Menagerie."

"Hooooo, so you're now part of the New White Fang? What, was being a 'Junior Detective' not low enough?" Dana said mockingly to the monkey Faunus.

"I'll take it as a compliment, but no, I'm not part of them. Taking charge of my own team is more than enough to deal with." He let go of the rope he was hanging from and landed dramatically looking right into Dana's eyes.

"Speaking of the gang, I would really appreciate if you gave Scarlet his wallet back. If it isn't much trouble."

"Nah-uh! You know the rules of our little 'cops vs. robbers' game. I take half of his money if none of you can catch me."

"Well, we are 2 against 3 in my favor. It will be a piece of cake." Sun said confidently.

"Don't forget who taught you how to move around Mistral." Dana smirked as she swiftly descended from the roof. She landed on a tent that stopped her fall.

"Man, it's good to be back home." He said while following the Faunus thief the same way she did moments ago. The real game had just begun.

As Dana tried to look for paths and routes to get Sun off her tail, she saw another laundry rope. She grabbed it and swung on it like a monkey on a vine. Sun tried to do the same, but he ran out of luck. The rope he grabbed onto let lose and jolted, springing him into a set of laundry lines, which wrapped him up like a snake. It was impossible for him to move. His arms and legs had become useless.

"What's the matter? I thought this was your specialty." Dana mocked Sun while hanging from her rope.

"So the game's over, huh? It seems that I was away from home for way too long." Sun chuckled while trying to loosen himself.

"I assume that Vale doesn't have the same type of architecture as this place. You know, I'll take pity on you and give back the wallet. Here. Not a Lien was taken." She put the wallet into Sun's pocket. "Consider this your... welcoming gift." She climbed down the rope, leaving Sun suspended in midair.

"Hey, wait! Aren't you going to help me!?" He yelled at the thief as she was walking away.

"Sorry, but I have to do some errands at work. I'll come back to you when I'm done." She said mischievously as she walked down the street. It wasn't a flattering position for the leader of a Huntsman team, but he couldn't complain. He felt that life was at least returning back to normal after months of away from home.

"Well, at least I have a nice view." Sun tried to be optimistic by admiring the city from the high altitude. He could see a small festival was taking place in the Market District. "Life is good." He thought, trying to let all the troubles of the past rest, just for the day.


	6. Sweet Home

**Disclaimer: RWBY Characters, places and terminologies with the exception of the Original Characters, belongs to Rooster Teeth Productions.**

* * *

"Here we are."

"Thanks…" Sal said to Ruby as they finally approached the man's house. The hooded girl was carrying a basket with supplies for the injured man. Arriving at the front door, Sal slowly opened it by using his hidden blade without letting Ruby notice.

Once inside, Ruby left the basket over at the table in the middle of the room. Sal sat down on his bed and tried to relax. He wasn't feeling well, so he tried to take a few painkillers before applying the medicine he bought.

"Do you need any help?" Ruby asked.

"No. I'm fine, but thanks for asking." He said while trying to apply ointment, still hiding his appearance from the girl. He didn't want to traumatize the poor youth.

"That's odd…" She said while looking at the man in pain. "Shouldn't your Aura help you heal faster?"

"Unfortunately, no. My Aura is too weak for that. Just a bad condition I've always had." Sal said as he tried to hold his breath to block out the fumes from the ointments. The girl started to look around the house and noticed how empty it was. Even for a person who lived alone, it looked depressing.

"Sorry for asking, but are you going to be okay by yourself? Can you recover on your own?" Ruby looked concerned about the man. He only shook his head in dismissal.

"You shouldn't worry about me. I only need to sleep and eat. I'll heal up in no time." Sal took one of the apples from the basket. Ruby noticed it was probably the only thing he had for food at home.

"Don't you want to eat something else?" She asked.

"Something else? What's wrong with this? Apples are the only thing I need. I'm not much of a picky eater.." He said while he took a few large bites from the apple. Sal kept covering his face from the hooded girl. "I think you should go back home. I can take care of myself for now."

"Oh, okay." Ruby said while heading to the door. "I hope you get better."

"I will, thanks for the help." Sal said sincerely. He watched the girl leave the house from the comfort of his bed. Once alone, he started checking his Scroll for any recent news. He looked for anything relevant, like disappearing civilians in the area. Unfortunately, he found no new leads on that matter. Sal sighed and decided to open an app to play some virtual chess online. At the moment, he could only play against other players from Mistral due to the CCT's now abysmal range.

 _You've got a match request._ The game uttered as Sal looked at his Scroll. He accepted the proposition and began playing against the player. Both of them started fast and strong. Odds were that match was going to be over pretty quick.

* * *

"Ren! Look at this!" Nora said with excitement while passing the booths scattered around the Market District. "Can you win it for me?" She asked while pointing at the darts game.

"Is there any specific prize you want?"

"That plush there that looks like a chicken. Can you get it for me? Please, please, pretty please…?" Nora started pulling on Ren's arm and begged like a spoiled little brat.

"Alright, that should be easy." Ren sighed while heading towards the booth. "How much for a game?" He asked the man in charge of the booth.

"50 Lien per round. You get three darts, and if you successfully get a bullseye on all three, you get a prize of your choice." The booth keeper explained to the quiet Huntsman.

"Alright, I want three of those." Ren said with confidence.

"Good luck, young man."

"You can do it, Lie!" Nora started cheering him on from the side. Ren took a deep breath and closed one eye for better aim. He threw the darts without hesitation, and every single one of them landed on the bullseye with terrifying accuracy. It left the man in the booth speechless.

"W-Well… Congratulations, you may pick anything from our selection." He said nervously.

"I want the chicken plush." Ren pointed at the prize. Nora grabbed it with excitement and hugged both her boyfriend and her toy.

"Thank you! I love it!" She said while still giving him a tight hug. Nora's sheer strength almost made Ren asphyxiate.

"This looks fun." A girl with red hair said while looking at the booth. She was being accompanied by a young man in a black cowboy hat. "Wanna give it a go?" She asked with a smug grin on her face.

"I don't mind. Did something catch your attention?" The cowboy asked.

"Anything is fine. As long as it's from you." She said while giving him a brazen wink.

"Alright." The cowboy walked up to the booth and looked at the prizes. Nora and Ren gazed at the girl with surprise. For a brief moment, they both had the same thoughts on their mind. They froze up for a bit.

The girl's red hair and green eyes were enough to fool them for a moment, but the facial features and hair length were completely different. They thought it was the same person, and they clearly mistook her for someone else.

The cowboy decisively grabbed the three darts with his left hand. He started aiming all of them at the same time. It looked insane. One would think it was impossible to get a bullseye with that method. The man in charge of the booth chuckled at the way the serious-looking fool was trying to do it.

"Hey." The cowboy asked. "How much for the prizes?"

"Well, if you get all three darts in the center, you get the Tier 3 prizes such as these plushies. You get Tier 2 prizes like jewelry and toys if you manage to get three close ones, For Tier 1 you get things such as candy, but that's if you are way off your mark." The man explained in detail. The cowboy gave him a look and raised an eyebrow.

"Just like that? Well, now I know exactly what I want." He smirked and firmly placed all three darts between his fingers. He closed his right eye and took small breaths to boost his concentration. A technique he picked up from one of his teammates.

In a single second, he threw all three darts into the dartboard. "Ohhhhh, too bad. It was a nice try though." The man in the booth said with a satisfactory sigh. It was clear he didn't believe what he said. To no one's surprise, none of the darts landed in the center.

For Ren and Nora, however, were not so easily fooled. They looked carefully at the darts. They noticed something unusual about them. While there was no doubt that he didn't hit the mark, they knew that he didn't really fail. The position and distance between the darts were a little too symmetrical for any regular person. A Huntsman would be capable of such a feat. The darts were forming an equilateral triangle not too far from the target.

"You may get some Tier 2 prizes. Choose whichever you want." The man said as the cowboy picked without hesitating. He looked at the selection of jewelry, which wasn't anything too fancy. They weren't made of precious stones, and the metals were just sprayed gold.

"I'll take this one." The cowboy picked a necklace with a small bird on it. It had a simple design, but it was heavy enough that one could almost confuse it for actual gold. He handed it to the redhead.

"Awww, thank you for the 60-lien necklace." She said sarcastically while smiling.

"You said anything about my choice. I thought it could be something that you might want to wear." He replied while tipping his hat.

"Well, at least it looks cute." The girl kissed the cowboy on the chick and hugged him around the neck. The cowboy noticed Ren and Nora were looking at him with suspicious eyes.

"Can I help you with anything?" He replied with shifty eyes.

"Not at all. We were just looking at how you threw them." Ren backstepped so he wouldn't anger the cowboy on accident.

"That? It was nothing. I didn't even get the center."

"Yeah right, you probably got a better chance with that neat arm of yours." Nora said while looking at the cowboy's right arm. He tried to cover it with his sleeve to cover it up even more than it already was. "Why not use it?"

"I don't need it. It wouldn't be fair if I'm using it on some childish games." He and his girlfriend turned their backs to walk somewhere else. They don't want to attract too much attention.

"Show-off…" Nora begrudged. It wasn't very subtle since everyone could hear her. The redhead suddenly stopped and turned to face the rude orange-haired girl. She stared Nora down with anger in her eyes.

"Excuse me? What did you say?" The redhead asked Nora with a tone that made the cowboy shiver.

"Lucy, calm down. I don't think she said anything." He tried to calm down his furious girlfriend.

"I said, he was a show-off!" Nora replied in a louder voice. The only way for Ren to respond was a disappointed facepalm.

"Nora! Don't make it worse!"

"Is that so? I bet you can't even go outside without your megaphone voice."

"Lucy, that's enough." The cowboy tried to defuse the situation before things could escalate.

"Are you going to let her keep talking trash about you, Jack!?" The girl named Lucy asked her boyfriend while he tried to restrain her before she could do something regrettable calmly.

"She just said what was on her mind. It doesn't matter for me." Jack tried to reason.

"I-I know, it's just…" Lucy sighed. "I'm sorry, I guess my temper got the best of me. But still, those were some very bold words. I bet she's all talk and no bite.

"Well, if you want to prove me wrong, how about a little competition?"

"Nora, please. You're better than this." Ren said, but she refused to listen.

"No, no, no. That sounds perfectly reasonable." Lucy smirked. "What exactly do you have in mind?"

"Hehe, okay. Let's see who can win the most prizes on every single festival game! You and me! Mano-a-mano."

"Are you kidding me? We don't have all day!" Ren refused to comply.

"I accept." Lucy said without hesitating.

"Are you sure? We still have the stuff to do." Jack wasn't keen on the idea either but couldn't really bring himself to go against Lucy's choices anyway. One thing was for sure. Jack and Ren both saw their girls had sparks in their eyes, determined to beat the other. "Why do I always get into this sort of situation?"

"That makes two of us." Ren nodded while standing next to Jack. "I'm terribly sorry. I'm Lie Ren by the way."

"That's alright. I apologize too. Call me Jack, nothing more, nothing less." Both men shook hands while Lucy and Nora got ready for the first competition. Dart throwing.

While it was the most straightforward round, Nora was struggling a bit because most of her throws weren't precise and some of them didn't even land on the dartboard. Lucy, on the other hand, had an easy time. She pinned most of the darts close to the bullseye. That round was a clear one-sided victory for the Lucy.

The next round belonged to Nora. It was a strength tester you'd find at your usual carnival. Lucy was the first to go and lifted the hammer with both hands. She found it difficult, as it was much heavier than what she usually dealt with. The moment she finally hit the tester, the machine's puck only reached the middle of the tower. She looked disappointed while Nora snickered.

When it was Nora's turn, she lifted the hammer firmly with both hands without struggling with the weight. Nora yawned, holding it as if she was holding a toy. She used all her power into a strike that not only rang the bell but broke the game. There was no doubt that Nora won the round.

"It looks like a tie." Ren commented to Jack, both of them still acting as spectators.

"Too bad. Unfortunately, they're still far from over." The cowboy lowered his head while covering his face with his hat in shame.

The two girls started the next round. A classic Mistral carnival game called Bottle Bash. The premise was simple. Throw the ball into the bottles and destroy as many as you can. At first, it looked like it would be an even game, but Nora had a better chance. She went first and shattered the bottles. Lucy tried to think of a better way. She knew she would require a lot more finesse than the other girl.

Lucy threw the ball in an angle that seemed like a clear miss. Ren and Jack, however, quickly noticed that she was up to something. She hit the bottles from the bottom. The pyramid of bottles collapsed to the left, right next to the other pile of bottles via a domino effect. The man in charge of the game had a surprised look on his face. He expected that after 30 years of watching people throw a ball at a bunch of bottles, nothing would shock him, but that day he was proven wrong.

"Oh no… there goes my evening." He said with a muted angry sadness in his tone.

"Well, it looks like I have to make a few last-minute changes." Ren pulled out his Scroll and started typing at high speed.

"Who are you texting?" Jack asked.

"A few of our friends. I was supposed to make dinner tonight, but I'll have to leave it to them instead."

"Sounds like a pity. How are they doing?"

"Right now they're at the shooting gallery." Ren pointed to the two girls from a distance. They could feel the intensity of their determination from any distance.

"It's gonna take a while, right?"

"Yeah… want to get something to drink in the meantime?"

"Sure, why not." They walked away to go look for a booth that would serve them drinks. Ren ordered some green tea while Jack got some cold apple soda. They drank it in one sitting. They looked exhausting even though they weren't doing much. "Hoo boy… I guess I owe you an apology for ruining your shopping date."

"Don't be sorry, it's alright. Nora can sometimes lose some of her cool when it comes to people being pretentious."

"I get from people at times. I'm used to it. Lucy just gets really defensive on my behalf." Both men chuckled at the attitudes of their beloved companions. "You know, it's been a long time since I've seen her so worked up with someone else."

"Same, Nora hasn't been this competitive since…" From one second to another, Ren's smile vanished as bittersweet memories from his time at Beacon Academy started flooding in.

"Something wrong?"

"Not at all. But I do have a question."

"Go ahead."

"Your girlfriend, Lucy right?"

"What about her?"

"Does she have a twin? Or any relatives that might look like her?" Ren's question made Jack raise an eyebrow.

"I don't think so… From what I know, it's just her and her father. Why do you ask?"

"No reason in particular. Just curious." As the boys were finishing their drinks, they spotted the girls approaching them with tired looks.

"Oh, hey. Who won?" Jack asked.

"Well…" Lucy was hesitant to speak.

"We… got banned from all the games." Nora said with an embarrassed look.

"Our competition went a little too far, and we scared the people around us." Hearing Lucy's explanation was enough to make Jack rub his eyes in frustration. Ren too happy either but there wasn't anything that they could do.

"I hope you learned your lesson." Ren said while staring, Nora dead in the eyes.

"I did... mostly."

"I'm beaten. I'd kill for some ice cream." Both girls were too tired, but for once they looked to agree.

"It's getting late. Maybe we should get some next time." Ren said while checking the time on his Scroll.

"Agreed, it was nice talking to you." Jack saluted by tipping his hat to the couple.

"Don't think you're off the hook just cause it's a draw. I'll win next time!"

"I was thinking the same thing. Don't disappoint me!" Nora and Lucy still couldn't stop with their competitive urges, but at least they were on more friendly terms now.

They parted ways and walked in opposite directions. It was a long day for Ren and Nora. As they headed home, they hoped that their friends didn't have any problems cooking dinner without them.

* * *

"Oh boy! Let's dig in!" Ace shouted in excitement as he opened the pizza box. He was staying at a hotel room, which he was sharing with Quinn and Diamo. The jovial guy sat on the floor like a child and started devouring his first slice of pizza. Quinn was sitting on the bed, and Diamo sat on a chair next to a desk.

"Hey! Don't take all the Hawaiian slices for yourself!" The bruiser yelled at his teammate to warn him. Quinn peeked at Diamo, who was quietly tinkering with his equipment.

"Hey partner, want some? There's plenty."

"Sorry, I'm not very fond of pizza." Diamo politely refused and got back to doing maintenance on his weapon.

"Good. More for me." Quinn gave a snide glare to the silent sniper. "Also, don't do your freaky maintenance while I'm eating, Four-Eyes! You're gonna spill your crap all over the grub!"

"You can go outside if it bothers you. My weapon needs regular maintenance. It has history."

"I'll break that piece of trash if you don't get out right now!"

"At least it looks better than yours." Diamo replied coldly as he looked at Quinn's broken weapon.

"Why you son of a…" Before the bruiser could say anything, his Scroll started ringing loudly. "I'll wipe deal with you after this." Quinn responded to Diamo and proceeded to answer the call.

"Who's calling?" Ace asked with curious eyes.

"Shuddup, I'm talking to Jack… Aha… yes… We are at the Windy Wheel Hotel, room 207… yeah, we're all here… Okay… we'll be waiting." Quinn ended the conversation and looked at his teammates. "Jack's coming here. He wants to discuss some important stuff with us."

"Really? Does it mean we're having... a sleepover?"

"How the hell should I know? He said he wanted to talk since he was close by." Quinn took another bite of from his slice.

"Dude, I love eating Hawaiian-topping pizza. Mistral's pineapples are really juicy. I wonder why they call it 'Hawaiian,' though."

"Don't know, don't care. People come up with weird names for food all the time. Like French fries or Danish bread. What the hell is 'Danish' supposed to mean!?" It didn't take long before the biggest member of Team JAQK went on a rant about trivial topics as usual.

Minutes later, someone knocked on the room's door. They got cautious. Ace stood up. He grabbed one of his regular knives with the slice of pizza still in his mouth and walked towards the door to check who was outside. He slowly waited for the person to knock again before doing anything else.

The person at the door knocked three times. Ace replied by knocking twice. Soon enough they heard four knocks outside, which made relax. Ace opened the door and saw Jack was waiting outside, casually standing with his backpack.

"Sup, bro! What brings you here? Want some pizza?"

"I'm not hungry, but thanks." Jack walked into the room while Ace checked the halls in case someone followed their leader. He closed the door carefully as he finished off his slice.

"Hey Jack, what's with the backpack?" Diamo asked.

"I came to sleep here."

"Ok, but why? I thought Lucy's dad didn't mind letting you stay." Quinn looked confused as he chugged a big bottle of soda.

"He doesn't mind, but I told Lucy that I would need to discuss tomorrow's plan with you. And also, because it's been a really long time since I've slept on anything comfier than a couch." Jack dropped his backpack on the floor and sat on the second bed. "So, how's everyone doing? Everything coming along? Lucy and I managed to get a house, but it will need some cleaning before we can all move in."

"How big is the place?" Ace asked.

"I don't know the exact measurements, but it's just one story with three rooms and a bathroom. Basically, it's spacious enough for a few Huntsmen and a dog."

"That doesn't sound half bad. Most of the houses in Mistral tend to be like stables. Smell like them too." Quinn commented.

"However, as we inspected the place, we discovered something strange underneath the floor. We thought it was a basement or something, but the landlord says there isn't one."

"So, you think that the previous tenants did something there?"

"Precisely, Diamo. Tomorrow I'll need your help. We need to not just clean but also inspect what's down there if you're available early in the morning, which brings me to my second point. Anyone land a job?" Jack looked at his team with disappointed eyes. "No luck, huh?"

"I tried looking I was in the Arts and Entertainment District, but some of those wimps ran off in fear when I approached them." Quinn sighed.

"That sucks."

"Quite an understatement, but I'm not surprised." Diamo said in a tone calm enough to irritate the Quinn even more. The muscular Huntsman felt like a cobra, and Diamo's emotionless words were like a stick poking into him. He managed to restrain himself for once and take the verbal approach.

"Oh yeah? What about you, Four-Eyes?"

"I wouldn't say I had better results. I only got a one-night job from Dana's employer."

"Really? What's the gig?" Jack asked as he took a sip of water.

"A formal event that needs a lot of hands." The sniper started cleaning his glasses and continued to explain. "I'll only assist as a waiter for the White Fang Gala that'll be happening in three days."

"Well, at least it's something." Jack nodded as he was thinking about the week.

"Hold up a second… Did you say 'Gala'…?" Ace asked with large grin. The rest of the team witnessed his not-so-subtle reaction.

"Oh no, don't you dare say whatever it is you just thought of, dimwit!" Quinn looked at the jovial guy with angry eyes.

"What? I don't know what you're talking about." Ace shrugged.

"Ace, you aren't fooling anyone." Jack said with a glare.

"Oh come on, bro! We've been running away from Vale for almost a year! We should have some fun once in a while now that the gang's all together."

"As much I appreciate the suggestion, we have more important matters at hand than trying to attend a party for sheer amusement." Diamo kept working on his weapon while his partner looked onward in disappointment.

"B-But what about…?"

"Just give it up already, dumbass." Quinn was done eating the last slice of pizza. Ace yawned and could feel his eyelids start getting heavy.

"I think we should go to sleep early for housecleaning." Jack said with a somewhat tired tone as he reached for the dreamcatcher in his backpack. The rest of the team were getting ready for sleep, as well. Quinn and Ace played rock-paper-scissor to see who gets the second bed. While they were distracted, Diamo sneakily crept into the empty bed and called dibs on it. In defeat, Ace extended some blankets on the floor while Quinn took the sofa for himself.

"Lights out, everyone." Jack gave the order to his team like some military commander. Really brought back a few pleasant memories from the past. They fell asleep in no time.

Maybe not all of them.

Covered in blankets, Ace used a flashlight reading an 'X-Ray& Vav' comic book. Quinn noticed him. Annoyed at his childish behavior, he grabbed a pillow and threw it at him. "Go to sleep already!"


	7. Sweet Home II

**Disclaimer: RWBY Characters, places and terminologies with the exception of the Original Characters, belongs to Rooster Teeth Productions.**

* * *

 **Day 3**

A new morning began in Mistral as the sun illuminated the castle in between the split of a mountain. The sunlight shone through the arc, illuminating the center of the city while leaving the lower parts covered in shadow. The castle was one of the few buildings able to bask in the glorious light.

Still lying in her bed, Weiss could hear some birds singing a few lovely tunes through the window. The melody was sweet enough to wake her up and fill her with indescribable joy. She drew a smile and, in content, hugged her pillow. As if her morning couldn't get any more relaxing, a splendid smell wafted underneath the door, almost making her drool.

There was an aroma of apples and cinnamon coming from the kitchen.

"Mmmmm… huh?" The former heiress opened her eyes to see what was happening. Oddly enough, the room was empty. "Where did you go?" Weiss asked when she realized Ruby was nowhere to be seen.

She yawned and stretched her arms contempt. She slept so soundly after last night's dinner. Due to Ren and Nora's late return, Oscar and Jaune had to cook by themselves. Oscar had more experience. He made roasted potatoes with mushrooms, spinach, and melted cheese on top. It could be described as a traditional country dinner at best — not the fanciest meal but satisfactory for any hungry soul.

Weiss walked downstairs to see who was working in the kitchen. She could hear the oven cooking something while someone was chopping something with a knife. The aroma of apple and cinnamon got increasingly more prominent as Weiss got closer. Once there, she noticed some bowls, spoons, flour, a bag of sugar, and a lot of sliced apples spread out on the table. It became evident that someone was baking apple pies earlier than usual.

"Good morning, Weiss!" Ruby greeted her teammate while putting a few apple slices onto a pie plate. She was wearing a cute red apron.

"Morning… Should I even ask?" Weiss asked indirectly, arms crossed in a judgment.

"Oh… I was thinking about making some since we didn't have any dessert yesterday." Ruby replied, struggling to form a sentence. She heavily focused on making the third pie.

"Hold on, where is everyone? Are we the only ones here?" Weiss rubbed her eyes, her face still half asleep.

"Yang left early for her therapy session, Blake went out to help for the preparation of the Gala, Uncle Qrow took Oscar on some Huntsman business. I don't know where Ren and Nora went, though."

"What about Jaune?"

"He's still training. He's been getting up early the last days." Ruby sighed as soon she mentioned him, worry seeped through her tone. Weiss wasn't happy about it either and became alarmed.

"Do you think he's alright? He's been keeping to himself lately."

"I was thinking the same. He went to sleep early after dinner. I tried to ask him when I saw him a few hours ago, but he brushed me off and just said he was okay." Both girls frowned at the thought of their friend's attitude. "Don't you think he…?"

"Yeah, ever since the Battle of Haven, he looks… empty. I'm kinda starting to miss the goofy old Jaune, the one that tried his best to impress me and failed miserably." Weiss crossed her arms and shook her head.

"I might have an idea why." Ruby put the plates and bowls away while looking her teammate in the eye. The young Huntress-in-training made a serious expression, very mature, in fact. "Back when we were traveling to Mistral, I saw Jaune training in front of his Scroll. He had a training video recorded by Pyrrha on the loop. He still doesn't know I spied on him or that I know he used to cry himself to sleep." Ruby lowered her head as Weiss uncrossed her arms in shock.

"I… I didn't know that."

"To make matters worse, his confrontation with Cinder. That rage. I'm worried that it'll be his undoing. He rushed in to fight a Maiden. A few bad moves, and he could have ended like Pyrrha."

"You don't have to mention it…" Weiss frowned as she touched the scar on her stomach, almost feeling a burning sensation.

"I might be stretching it, but he is trying to grow stronger to take Cinder down."

"But Cinder is gone, Raven already took care of her, right? At least that's what Yang told us."

"It looks like Jaune doesn't think the same." Ruby grimaced as she heard the oven make a noise, signifying the first two pies were ready. "You know, I'm anxious about his mental health."

"Same thing for Yang and Blake. Neither could stand in the same room for long. They wouldn't even come home if it meant looking one another the eye." Weiss grabbed a glass and poured some cold water into it.

"Yeah, I noticed that too... Even more so with Blake. She hasn't come in for two days. I know she is busy helping with the Gala and all, but this doesn't feel right."

"It might be weird for me to be the one saying this, but I feel like we should… no... we MUST attend the Gala. All of us." Weiss' suggestion was enough to take Ruby by surprise. The Ice Queen herself being on board with this type of thing was unexpected.

"Who are you, and what did you do to Weiss?"

"Very funny." Weiss' cold attitude was brought to the surface as she rolled eyes unamused. "But seriously, seeing everyone like this is depressing."

"Well… I tried asking Yang to come, but she felt uncomfortable with the idea."

"I might know how to convince her." The girl said as she put her finger under her chin and pondered upon the situation.

"How?" Ruby asked.

"You said she went to therapy today, right? I'll try asking her to come to help me pick out a new dress for the Gala." Weiss took a sip of water before going back to explaining her plan. "However, we're going to say we're doing this to cheer up Jaune."

"Do you think she'll agree to that?"

"If we're lucky, yes. I'll talk to Ren and Nora. It'll help our odds. It might be a good idea to keep a distance from your uncle and us too, now that I think about it."

"I hope it works." As soon as Ruby sighed, the oven's timer rang, with the pies done. They looked and smelled delicious, probably because Ruby prepared them with her unique ingredients. Love and care. And a lot of sugar. A lot of sugar.

The optimistic girl grabbed a knife and cut one of the pies into six slices. She served one slice on a plate and offered it to her partner.

Weiss smiled and took a bite out of the slice. It was sweet and warm. As she tasted it, it was something that not even the best bakers from all of Atlas could give her. Her expression of pure bliss was enough. Ruby didn't find it necessary to ask.

"I'm glad you like it." Ruby said gratefully. She put a basket on the table and started packing a few pies along into it along with a small carton of milk, a knife, a few forks, and one plate. Weiss looked on with curiosity as she noticed what Ruby was doing.

"Uhh… what are you planning?"

"Oh, I'm going out. It won't be for too long." Ruby said as she grabbed her crimson cape that was hanging on the front door.

"Are you going to see someone?"

"I'm bringing food to a sick person."

"So you've been talking to strangers, weren't you?" Weiss facepalmed at Ruby's naïve and childish attitude on that matter. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Don't worry. I just wanted to help him. I found him one day just lying on the ground injured and practically dead. I took him to his house, but I looked around, and he didn't have anything to eat."

"Just… be careful out there, alright?" Ruby nodded at Weiss' warning. She left the house with a pep in her step. Almost as if she was a child about to visit her grandma. The former heiress sighed while taking another slice of apple pie.

Ruby walked down the street, happily watching the vendors open up their shops and kiosks in the morning. She couldn't stop thinking about her friends due to the circumstances. Everything's not lost, but things can't continue to go on like they are now.

She glanced at the dogs barking at her as she walked by. They were harmless behind their fences. She continued on her way but felt that the dogs looked more agitated than usual. Almost as if something was bothering them.

She finally arrived at Sal's house and started knocking at his door, hoping he was inside or at least awake. She waited for a couple of minutes.

"Who's there?" She heard his voice, weak and severe.

"It's me, Ruby."

"What are you doing here?" Sal asked, surprised to hear from the cape clad girl.

"I brought you something you might like. It's an apple pie." There wasn't any response for several minutes. Ruby waited for a little and took a look at the house's exterior. It looked pretty big for just one person. It was probably one of the many apartment complexes Mistral that didn't get enough reconstruction due to poor business. The view was pitiful. It almost reminded her of what Vale looked like after The Fall.

In the blink of an eye, the door slowly opened in front of the hooded girl.

"I don't have any ice cream to go along with it." Sal said with a soft voice.

"It's alright. No need for it, though."

"Come on in." Ruby entered the house looked at the basket to see if nothing was missing. She made her way inside the humble house while Sal moved the table to the center and turned on the lamp in the corner. His room was about as dark as a Grimm pool in a tunnel at night.

"Sorry for the mess. I wasn't expecting visitors." The man in white said with modesty.

"I thought so. That's why I brought you a plate, a knife, and a fork. For you."

"Why?" Sal looked confused, even though the mask and shades covered his face. "Why did you come here? What's your goal?"

"I… I wanted to make sure you were alright. You had no one around, so I just wanted to see if you healed up alright. I was the one that found you in not-so-great shape, and I would sleep better if I knew you were in a... better shape?" Ruby pulled the pie out of the basket along with a plate. She started cutting a slice. The man saw some of the steam flying up into the air. Sal could sense the warmth from it. Fresh from the oven. "Here. I hope you enjoy it."

"I appreciate it, but I'm not so sure I can." Sal's voice started wavering, and his hand started shaking. He didn't want to take off his mask when other people were present. He moved his face away but grabbed the slice with his hand. It was burning his hand, but it was worth it. Sal lowered the surgical mask and took a bite out of the pie slice without letting Ruby see his face.

The man in white became speechless as he tasted the sweetness of the slice.

"D...Do you like it?" Ruby asked, already sensing his reaction.

"This is better than I imagined. Did you make this?" Sal put his mask back on while he looked the girl straight into her bright silver eyes.

"Yeah, you could say I have a talent for pastry."

"Wow. Your mother must be proud of."

"My… mother didn't teach me." Her smile switched to a more somber one as soon as Sal mentioned it.

"Did I say something wrong?"

"No, no, it's alright. It's just… my mother died when I was very young. I had to go by an old recipe she wrote down. I don't have many memories of her." Ruby looked at the window with a sigh. Sal felt bad for killing the mood.

"I'm sorry if I upset you. I completely understand where you're coming from."

"How so?"

"You could say that I lost my father not too long ago. He was the only family I had in this world." Sal said, taking another bite from the slice.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I guess I'm a bit too ungrateful. I still have my sister, my dad, my uncle, and my friends." Ruby let out a little laugh, looking down in sadness as more memories started flooding in. Nowadays, whenever she thought of her mother, her mind would automatically bring her back to Beacon. Back to Penny's body lying on the cold arena floor, torn asunder, wires and circuitry scattered. Back to Pyrrha's ashes scattering harshly into the winds.

"No need to apologize. Sometimes that's how the universe works. The world always seems to hang hope in front of us like an apple on a stick. Hope, always just slightly out of our reach. I'm quite jealous of you, Ruby. But one must endure it till the very end. Leap forward, bite into that hope and never let go. Be happy with what you have, and cherish what you have lost."

Sal's words of wisdom made the young girl reflect on a lot of things. She thought he was an experienced huntsman, so it shouldn't have been that big of a surprise to her that he had some wisdom to share. "Maybe I'm not the best person to tell you this, but take my advice to heart. For how much red you have on you, you couldn't be greener. Take advantage of every chance you have to spend that youth of yours, especially with your friends."

"I will." Ruby smiled as she cut another slice for Sal. "Thanks for telling me that."

"It's the only way I can pay you for everything you've done for me." Sal looked at his Scroll to check the time. "Better go back, you don't want to waste your time with someone like me."

"What do you mean, someone like you? What is that supposed to mean? You're a pretty cool guy!" Ruby tried to lift Sal's spirits. Sal smirked, not even trying to hide it. Still, he didn't want her to get into any trouble because of him.

"Seriously, though. It's getting late. Your friends are gonna get worried." Ruby paused for a moment and comically crossed her arms. She looked outside the window with a pout on her face. She rolled her eyes back at Sal.

"Ok, gramps. I guess I better get going." Ruby stood up, and Sal followed after her to send her off.

"Huh? Aren't you going to take the basket with you?" The man in white asked the young girl. "Gramps? I'm not that old..." He mumbled in disbelief as she called him like that.

"Don't worry. It's all for you. I hope you get better." She waved her hand and closed the door.

Sal went silent. The girl's kindness was almost unbelievable. He pulled out a notebook while still eating his piece of the pie. Once he opened the notebook, he looked into its content. Each page was full of cheesy one-liners, and some of them were even marked out. There were phrases like 'I will chase you to the end of the earth' or 'I was born to kill you.' Every overused line under the sun and moon. Cliche, but satisfying as all hell.

"Man… I need to come up with better one-liners. That son of a Grimm Spade will see that my words cut just as hard as my blades." Sal sighed and got to work, brainstorming his perfect taunts.

* * *

"Watch the speakers! You break them, and you pay for them!" Starlock warned the two Faunus that were moving the equipment on stage. The staff of Sher's were helping accommodations inside of Haven's Academy Hall for the Gala by doing the decorations and moving furniture. Among the staff, Starlock A'Dayle was the most qualified when it came to special events, even if that meant losing his cool. "Hey, you! The table-sheets should be blue over white, not white over blue!"

"T-Take it easy, Star. Things are g-going s-smoothly r-r-right now." Natto said to the Rooster Faunus as he looked at the clipboard.

"As much I would like to take it easy, I have to make sure everything is in working order. Aside from checking on the girls' singing, choosing the menu, I have to make this place look so prestigious that it would put an Atlesian Socialite Party to shame." Starlock's eyes sparkled with fire as he educated the Tanuki Faunus. "Can't you see we're shining a giant spotlight on ourselves!? Before long, we'll be the national treasure of Mistral!"

"I c-comple-ly underst-t-tand. I a-already spoke with C-Chief Bella-do-donna's wife that she w-will help us today."

"And I'm grateful for that, but with all due respect, she would need to learn how we do things here. That kind of thing takes… Dana! What, in the sweet merciful name of Auntie Goldie, are you doing here!?" Starlock focused on the Fox Faunus, who was busy on top of stepladder hanging ribbons on the ceiling.

"What? I'm just doing what you told me to do." She shrugged.

"You're doing in the wrong place! It has to go horizontally from left to right! Not from up to down!" He kept yelling at her.

"For crying out loud, don't be so nitpicky, Star. I'll fix it right away." Dana said nonchalantly. Starlock grabbed his temples in frustration, swearing under his breath. Dana grabbed one extended part of the hanging ribbons and swung on it across the room as if she was part of a trapeze act. Already in position, she put the ribbon in the correct spot. She looked down, noticed everyone's infatuated glares due to her acrobatics enthralled the people. They cheered her on for some reason.

" _Did I do something?"_ She thought for a moment. Clapping and wolf whistles echoed throughout the room. _"Eh. Whatever."_ Dana went along with the crowd and bowed modestly towards them, still hanging from the ribbon.

Natto and Starlock weren't amazed at all. "H-Hey, be careful with that! Those ribbons were imported from Vale!" The Rooster Faunus yelled at her. "Oh, lordy… I need a glass of cranberry juice." Starlock touched his forehead and walked away with a tired look.

Dana climbed down from a ladder and approached Natto, confused. "What's the deal with Star?" She asked the stuttering manager of Sher's .

"H-He is just t-taking his j-job as o-o-organizer seriously. I w-want to a-a-ask you to b-b-behave while we're w-working here."

"As if it wasn't bad enough that I had to wake up early today. Now I can't even have some fun while helping."

"Y-You know this e-event is important for our b-business. B-But with all due r-respect, you have to a-act like T-Tod if we want to l-leave a g-good impression. You g-got that?" Natto looked straight at the clipboard while Dana rubbed the back of her head.

"Speaking of Tod, what is he doing?" The Fox Faunus asked.

"H-He's helping Nori and Mrs. B-Belladonna bring in the l-liquor." As soon he mentioned them, they walked through the front door with boxes of liquor in hand.

"Oi, Natto! Where's the kitchen?" Nori asked his trusted friend.

"T-The r-room on your l-left. Exactly where the g-g-guest tables a-are." The Sher's manager pointed in the right direction with his pen.

"Thanks. Would you kindly let us help you carry those boxes, Mrs. Belladonna?" He asked Kali, who was doing some heavy lifting.

"That won't be necessary. I can handle it myself." She said with a modest tone.

"No, no, please, I insist. Your attention should be primarily on supervision. You've got a keen eye for decorations."

"Well, I could ask my daughter to help you with the boxes if you'll allow it."

"That's fine by us, ma'am." Nori focused his eyes on Natto. "Hey, where is that girl?"

"She's h-helping Sheldon a-at the k-kitchen." Natto replied.

"Alright, go talk to her. Oh, and where in the world is Starlock? Wasn't he supposed to be in charge of organizing this place?"

"He w-went to get some j-juice. D-Dana's attit-tude got to h-him."

"Again? Son of a…" Nori sighed. "What is Dana doing?"

"D-Decorating the c-ceilings."

"Tell her to help us with the boxes. We have so much work ahead. At that's not even including recreating The Beishang Waterfall." Nori walked into the kitchen while Natto called Dana to give her instructions. She complained at first, since she was starting to have fun but obeyed anyway and headed to the main door.

Natto started taking notes about stuff that was missing from the list. He got the stage already assembled. Music wouldn't be an issue. The food was more exceptional than what you'd find at your average pub. So far, things were progressing at a steady pace with minimal inconvenience. Natto felt someone tapping on his left shoulder from behind and then a female's voice.

"Excuse me. You need me for something?" Blake asked the manager of Sher's.

"Why y-yes we d-do. Just m-move the b-boxes of liquors in, p-please." Natto said nicely. Without any more words, Blake went headed to the front door.

The preparations for the White Fang Gala made her extremely busy, to the point that she couldn't even see her teammates and friends. She felt isolated from the duties that fell upon her. She knew getting back to her team would have to wait. After the party, she promised herself she would stay with them without any more distractions.

"Excuse me." A young man's voice said to Blake while passing through, carrying the large box of booze. He had short black hair and wore glasses. Blake found it pretty surprising that he wasn't a Faunus. Did someone force him to help, or did he volunteer himself?

"Where's the kitchen, Natto?" The young man asked.

"R-Right there." He pointed at a door where the guest tables were.

"Thanks." The human continued with his task as he walked away. Blake got curious and approached Natto.

"Hey, who is that?" She pointed at the guy with glasses.

"That's K-Kingston D-Diamo. One of our s-staff members." Natto explained.

"I never saw him before."

"He's a t-temporary w-worker. You d-don't have to w-worry about him. Is there a p-problem?"

"Not at all. Just curious." Blake wasn't bothered with the human helping them. It was a good thing for the New White Fang. Blake headed to the entrance to help with the rest of the boxes. As the Huntress approached the truck, she heard laughter coming from behind it.

"I'm telling you, I thought I was going to die, Dana."

"No way is that how you got that scar?" Dana was sitting on top of a box while Sun showed the wound on his left shoulder.

"Yep, it was a harsh lesson, but don't worry, we're cool now." Sun laughed while putting his shirt back on. "Besides, I don't hold grudges against girls."

"Oh, I didn't know you are such a gentleman. Do you say that excuse every time a girl kicks your tail?" Dana snarked.

"Of course, not…! Not always."

"Sun?" Blake walked around the truck and intruded the two Faunus while they were talking.

"Hey Blake, how's it going?" Sun greeted her with his usual smile.

"I'm helping with preparations. What are YOU doing here?"

"Well, you know, I was just passing by." He slowly turned his glance to the Fox Faunus. "Oh yeah, I forgot to introduce you to each other. This is my friend Dana; she lives around these parts." Both Faunus stepped down from the truck to introduce each other appropriately.

"Hello, I'm…." Blake extended her hand to the other girl.

"Blake Belladonna, I know…" Dana interrupted her while shaking hands. "Sun told me a lot about you. Almost everyone here knows who you are."

"I guess I'm getting trendy here." Blake commented.

"Well, when you're the daughter of the Chief of Menagerie and behind all that White Fang revolutionary-thingy from days ago, it's hard not to recognize you." As Dana laughed, Nori came through the front door with a not-so-pleasant look.

"Hey, Dana! What's taking so long!?" He yelled.

"Sorry, I…?" She looked nervous while trying to come up with an excuse. When she saw Sun next to her, a lightbulb in her head turned on. "I brought some extra help since carrying those boxes might take all day. We don't want to waste time, do we?"

"You? Caring about not wasting time? Now that's a good one." Nori turned his eyes to Sun. "And how exactly could he help us with this? We don't need more people."

"No problem. I've got the strength of four people." Sun played along with Dana's excuse. He didn't mind helping since he would gladly do it if they asked him to.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but you look too skinny actually to carry all that by yourself." Nori said unamused.

"He ain't joking." Dana's comment made Nori raise an eyebrow. Sun clapped both hands into a praying gesture, and his yellow Aura started glowing. In a matter of seconds, four physical projections of Sun appeared and began unloading boxes from the truck. Each one of them carried boxes into the gala.

"Huh, impressive, I must admit." Nori said.

"I know. You don't have to worry about it."

"And tell me, how long can those copies last?"

"Say again?" Dana's smile began to fade away as she slowly remembered how Sun's Semblance works. Once the clones got inside, the four Faunus started hearing boxes fall to the ground, and bottles break on the floor. Nori gave a glare to Sun, and Dana crossed his arms in displacement.

"Sorry, I forgot to mention that I trained earlier this morning." Sun tried to apologize but felt that it wasn't enough. Blake facepalmed in embarrassment.

"I guess we all know who's going to clean this mess." Blake commented.

"MY SUIT!" They heard someone yelling from inside the gala. Nori turned around to see who it was. "My suit, wine stains are so hard to clean!" It was Starlock. He looked to be in distress, standing in a puddle of liquor.

"Sorry, Star!" Dana shouted from outside the gala.

"Pick up those boxes and clean this place up! And by the Gods, no more tomfoolery!" Nori began ordering everyone around, sending shivers down their spine. Sun went to get a mop while Dana, Nori, and Blake started unloading the rest of the boxes. They had to speed up to make up for so many inconveniences.

It would be a long day for both Sher's staff and The White Fang.

* * *

Outside of Mistral's limits, an hour away from the city, Qrow walked towards an Inn. There were some broken windows from on both the first and second floors. " _Did something happen here?"_ The Huntsman pondered as he eyed the place.

He opened the door to see if there was anyone who could answer his questions. Behind the counter, a man was cleaning some cups and organizing the bottles on the shelf. Not only that, a few tables and chairs were missing, and the barrels were open.

"Sorry, we can't serve anyone at the moment." The bartender said. He wasn't in the best mood to serve anyone yet. It was too early for drinks.

"I'm not here for that. I need to ask you a few questions." Qrow said.

"Oh? What kind of questions?"

"Nothing too long. I just wanted to know if you saw any of these people." The Huntsman started showing pictures of the missing people on his Scroll with their names written below them. "Anything ring a bell?"

"Nah-Ah. None of them look familiar." The bartender shook his head.

"Anything unusual happens here as of late?"

"Not really. This place has usual trouble. Grimm, thugs, you know how it goes."

"I see. Sorry to bother you then." Qrow turned around and headed to the door. He stopped for a brief moment as he looked at the windows. "One last question. What happened here?"

"Weren't you listening? A bunch of thugs got into a fight and wrecked this place. It was like three days ago. Damn punks."

"Anyone in particular?"

"Aside from the thugs. Hmm… yeah. A bunch of teenagers. They looked tough as nails."

"Were they Huntsmen?"

"Who knows. As far as I could tell, one had a robotic arm." The little detail caught Qrow's attention. Not many people had the privilege of having robotic limbs unless they had contacts in Atlas.

"Is that so? I guess that's useful."

"If you found them, I'd appreciate it if you made them pay. I didn't get the full charge, and someone has to compensate for the damages." Qrow nodded as he left the Inn while hearing the man rant about "the youth of today."

Qrow stepped outside. He opened his flask and took a sip, reflecting on who those teenagers and the one with the robotic arm might be. He knew many people with robotic limbs around Remnant, but it was pretty uncommon to find someone like that in Mistral.

It was inevitable that there was no relation between the punks and the disappearances, but one can never be too safe. Knowing his luck, Qrow wanted to be sure. Chances were that those people were either that those punks know something or are just another dead end. The best he could do at the moment was inform Ozpin and keep investigating.


	8. Sweet Home III

**Disclaimer: RWBY Characters, places and terminologies with the exception of the Original Characters, belongs to Rooster Teeth Productions.**

* * *

"Dude, this is dark!"

"You don't say… Shut up and keep looking around!"

As Lucy was cleaning the house, she had to endure listening to Ace and Quinn's childish bickering. They came early in the morning just as Jack instructed them. He wasn't around because he went to an interview for work that Lucy recommended. Diamo wasn't there either due to work. The redheaded girl swept the floor with a broom. She swept the floor while also keeping a close eye on the door in case the landlord appeared without warning.

"So much… dirt!" Ace coughed.

"You have a damn bandana! Why don't you wear it as a mask!?" Quinn yelled.

"I don't want it to ruin it. It was a gift from Ma' Spades."

"Then don't cough in my face, you oaf! If you do it again, I swear on my gramps that I will grab that piece of wood and shove it up to your…"

"Hey! Knock it off, you two! Someone might hear you." Lucy hit the floor with her broom as she ordered both men. Her patience was even lower than Quinn's, and babysitting them wasn't exactly a pleasant thing to do. Also, taking care of Saber, who was sleeping in the corner away from the trash, was less work than taking care of those two. "I guess now we're the only sane ones in this house, ain't that right, Saber?" The loyal husky kept sleeping.

Lucy kept cleaning the house. She grabbed a rag and a bucket full of soapy water. She soaked the cloth and started running it through the cabinets, tables, and the oven, all while whistling a little tune.

It was a song she remembered from her first year at Atlas Academy.

She reminisced about her former teammates from Team LUUX. People that could've been the greatest Huntsmen or Soldiers in Remnant. Saving lives and fighting Grimm was their motto, but for Lucy, life-risking tasks were her purest drive.

Umbra Roxo, Ulex Grau, and Xander Mavro…

Those were the names that Lucy could never forget, no matter how much time passed, especially Xander's. However, those were also the names that she wanted to move on from. Why was it so hard for her to let them go? Even amongst her boyfriend and his teammates, she couldn't have felt more alone. She could hardly call Team JAKQ, except for Jack, her equals.

Team LUUX had their way of thinking, their ideas, their dreams, their issues, and the moments they shared… Irreplaceable memories that Lucy treasured for the past three years, keeping them close like a torch in a fog.

"Hey, Lucy. Open up!" The redhead snapped out her daydreaming as she heard someone banging on the door. "It's me, Jack."

"One moment!" Lucy put the rag back in the bucket. She headed to the door and opened it.

"Is everything alright? I knocked for two minutes." Jack asked with a worried look.

"No, no, not at all." She tried to shift to a more defensive attitude. She started cleaning the furniture again with the rag. "How was that interview with the mechanic?"

"Well, it went better than expected. Although, I kinda feel like he took pity on me since your dad put in a good word for me." Jack took off his hat as he scratched his head.

"Well, there's aren't many well-paid jobs around the city. Being a mechanic isn't half bad. Didn't you attend that engineering club back in Atlas?"

"Yeah. Though I would prefer sewing instead, I think I've been sowing before I even learned the alphabet." Jack sat on the floor to relax for a bit. He stretched and groaned as the not entirely healed wounds from his prior battles let themselves be known. Saber woke up and yawned. The loyal husky forced her head into Jack's face, hoping for attention. "Slept well?" He sneezed as soon as he petted the husky's head.

"You know, when I walked through the Market District, I heard there's gonna be a gala event organized by the 'New' White Fang tomorrow."

"So?"

"I was thinking. Maybe we should go there and have some fun."

"That's what I was saying!" Ace yelled from underneath the floor.

"Shut up!" Quinn interrupted.

"I'm not so sure about this. We came here to hide and look for answers. We're not on vacation." Jack said with a conflicted grimace.

"We have been running for over a year, Jack. I'm tired of running. I would like to go and have a good time now that we are here."

"I'd like that too. But I don't know. It's a tough call." Jack stumbled between words. He sighed and tried to think about the possibilities. He wasn't in the mood for parties, but when was the last time he did something outside of cleaning his weapon and training?

"Hey, if you're done with your lovely-cuddly couple stuff, could you come to check this out?" Quinn lifted some of the planks that led to the basement. Jack stood up and went down while Lucy put the planks back in their place before someone could barge into the house.

Once in the shady room of the house, Quinn took out his Scroll to illuminate the place, allowing everyone to see how the basement looked. The place was empty, but not normal. The basement's size was about as big as a living room.

"This place looks like the bunker that my grandpa made back at home." Jack commented as he inspected the underground room.

"At least that thing had a secret tunnel with a backdoor exit. This one doesn't, and it's humid." Ace interjected, his voice muffled as his bandana covered his mouth.

"Not just that. Look at this floor... and these walls, someone dug this place out pretty well." Quinn moved the Scroll to illuminate the wall that he was referred to.

"What do you mean?" Jack asked.

"Don't you see it? It is way too precise. No way you could dig out a place like this without tools." Quinn said as he started hitting the walls. To everyone's surprise, it didn't crumble.

"Especially tools that wouldn't make noise or alert anyone in the neighborhood." Ace continued explaining. "So… any ideas about what we should do with this extra space?"

"I'm not so sure. We can think about that some other time." Jack knocked to the wooden floor above him. Waiting for Lucy's help to climb up. "As for now. We still need to finish cleaning the house, and you two need to look for a job." The cowboy left both of his teammates in the basement. Quinn tried to get out as well before Ace pulled on his jacket as if he was trying to get his attention.

"What do you want?" Quinn asked with annoyed eyes.

"I was thinking. When we start looking for jobs, how about we go and rent some tuxedos."

"A tux? Are you really insisting on going to that stupid gala?"

"Why not? I mean, I need your help since you know more about this kind of… boujee stuff?"

"I hate galas. And wearing suits. They never have one in my size." Quinn sighed. "Besides, you heard Jack. He doesn't want to go there."

"He doesn't want to go there, yet." Ace smirked. "Knowing Lucy, she'll convince him in no time."

"Forget it. I hate those kinds of events."

"Well, maybe, but you do know that Diamo is working at the gala."

"What are you up to, dumbass?" Quinn raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing, I was thinking that since he'll be a waiter, he might be really diligent on serving all the guests. And I mean, any guest at the event without refuting." Ace's tempting words made the big guy think about Diamo. Quinn started to chuckle. He knew exactly what Ace was suggesting. An opportunity like this was hard to refuse.

"You know what? I like where you're going with this. I guess it'll be payback time for all those times Four-Eyes gave me crap and got away with it." Quinn did nothing but hold in his laughter.

"I don't like that look on your face."

"Why so?"

"Hey, are you two done talking!?" Lucy used the broom to tap the wooden floor. "I still need you to finish cleaning the house." Both men obeyed without hesitation.

"A little louder, girls." Starlock said to the band as he sat down next to the stage. The preparations were done faster than anticipated, and making music was one of the last things they had on the schedule before wrapping everything up. "Come on! Even my grandma can do it louder, and she's mute!" The rooster Faunus said in a rather bossy tone.

"Sounds fine to me." Kali said while she sat next to Starlock.

"With all respect, Mrs. Belladonna, this won't be enough to bring people in. I want it to be loud enough so that even people outside can hear it."

"That's a lot to ask."

"Nonsense. It's never too much to ask." Starlock looked at his Scroll to check the music's volume. "As you can see, this is just below the minimum for it to echo through the room. Guests won't enjoy the music if it isn't up to standard."

"I can understand that, but aren't you worried about overworking the girls?" Kali asked as she looked at the band.

"Overworking my girls? That's preposterous! I know their limits and how much they can play." He said with concern underneath his pompous tone. "Josie, Melody, and Valerie have an immense amount of talent and energy. Mistreating them would make their skills go to waste, and no one benefits from that. That includes looking for proper quality equipment, instruments, and so forth!

"You sure know how the music business works." Kali complemented.

"I know how entertainment in general works. Pity I can't make music like that myself.." Starlock sighed with a disappointed look in his eyes. As they listened to the band, Diamo approached them with two glasses of cranberry juice. "Ah, Tod! Just in time!"

"For what exactly? I'm just delivering your drink." Diamo said with confusion.

"Not that. You arrived at the best possible moment. What's your opinion about music?" Starlock expressed with enthusiasm.

"I'm not really into music."

"That's not what I'm referring to!" The rooster Faunus took a sip from his glass as soon as he started to lose his patience. "What I'm trying to ask is if you think the music is loud enough or not."

"Oh. I see." Diamo said plainly. He listened in carefully to "feel" the music. "I… can't hear the bass."

"Is that so? You heard him, girls! Spice it up!" As soon as the rooster Faunus gave the order, the band's music changed tune. The music started to sound a lot better, and their pace picked up to a reasonable speed. "Alas, much better. Thanks for the feedback, Tod." Starlock said with a satisfactory smile as Diamo nodded and continued with his work.

As the preparations were almost over, Tiny Nori stood outside at the entrance with Dana, Blake, and Sun, his stern look focused on the young bunch of Faunus. While the girl with a fox tail seemed uninterested, the other two never looked more terrified in their lives.

Grimm? Child's play. Criminals? They could barely make them flinch. They've been to hell and back but never experienced anything like this bartender's wrath. "Alright, listen up! Since this event is open to the public, we will get a lot of guests from all kinds of places."

He fiddled with the stern staff in his right hand while giving them a petrifying glare. "Rich, poor, elderly, children, human, Faunus… This place is going to be packed like anchovies. We must look after them, making sure that nobody causes any trouble and… ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION, DANA!?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah, I… uhhh, was just taking mental notes about the event." Dana shrugged, which made Nori upset. He tried to hit her on the head, but the fox Faunus dodged swiftly without even looking at him. Sun chuckled while Blake admired the move. She's never seen a waitress move like that.

"I was paying attention. For real."

"Anyway…" Nori scoffed. "So as I was saying, since young Miss Belladonna and monkey-boy are the faces of this event, I want them to greet the guests at the front door and shake every single guest's hand with a smile."

"What's that got to do with me? I'm just a waitress." Dana asked.

"You'll be holding the drinks for people to take at the entrance. I want them to get in the mood as soon as they set foot here."

"If you say so…" The fox Faunus waitress yawned as Nori walked back into the building. Sun noticed how quiet Blake was. He had a hunch that something was bothering her.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"I'm fine. It's just that... this might be harder than I expected. Now people probably consider me as 'the face' of the New White Fang." Blake sighed.

"It should be alright. No one is going to judge us. Especially since we're here to give everyone a good time." Sun gave a reassuring smile. "We're almost done, wanna get some something to eat after this?"

"I guess. Know any place around here?"

"Oh, oh, oh! I do!" Dana said with enthusiasm. "I know a noodle booth down the street."

"Are you planning to pay for our lunch?" Sun asked with shock in his eyes.

"Of course!" Dana said as she walked away. "Although, I must thank Scarlet for the money~" Sun's surprise stopped as he shook his head and sighed. Blake was confused about what just happened but went along with it.

For Blake, it's been a while since she had time to relax. No rush, no hiding. Just relaxing.

"Dammit, Ace! You brought me the wrong pants!" Quinn yelled from the changing room.

Ace and Quinn went to a clothing store after they were done cleaning the house. They picked from a few recognizable brands from all around Remnant. Some were made locally with their distinctive traditional style, and others being imported from Atlas and Vale. Brands from Atlas were, eventually, expensive to buy. Renting one was more affordable but didn't offer the same quality as a tailor-made one. Quinn was very picky when it came to choosing what he saw as "passable."

The Tuxedo he tried was too tight and small. It made him look ridiculous. He felt the jacket nearly tear apart at the shoulders, and he could feel the stitches near the biceps rip a bit every time he flexed. The bowties were so short that they couldn't even be tied into a knot. The pants were also quite uncomfortable. The big guy was angry at the bone.

"You asked me to bring grey pants, and I did exactly that." He said while relaxing in a chair.

"Seriously, did you forget about the fact that 80% of the tuxes in this stupid store don't fit a guy my size?"

"Ehhh…"

"Oh, you son of a…" Quinn tried to take a deep breath before he could lose his cool and bludgeon the fool and hang him on a hanger like a scarecrow. "Whatever, I don't know why I thought it was a good idea to listen to you."

"Well, you are kinda like my second wingman, you know." As soon as Ace commented, Quinn opened the curtain and threw the pair of pants at the jovial dude's face.

"Just bring me another pair. A bigger size this time!"

"Alright, alright… jeez." Ace took the pants and started walking around the store to find pants of the matching color. While browsing around, he saw a few more colorful options that might look good on himself. Sadly, choosing tuxedos without consulting Quinn first could be troublesome. A pity. Ace liked having attention at parties. Not everything was bad. He saw the White Fang Gala as a good chance for his team to have some fun, relax, meet cute girls, and more importantly, gather intel.

Ace trying to work for once? At a party of all things? That would be something that none of his teammates would buy. His easygoing nature and slacker attitude could be misunderstood as part of a trickster-like façade. Just like yesterday, when he spent the whole day collecting intel instead of looking for a job as Jack instructed. Selfish? Probably, but that was his choice.

As Ace mindlessly wandered around the store, he ended up in the women's section. He could've turned around and gone back, but his eyes caught something of interest. Standing close to the women's fitting room, he saw a gorgeous blonde with a well-built body. She wore a brown jacket and long boots with a purple bandana tied around one leg.

One detail the Ace couldn't stop looking at was her right arm. A robotic prosthetic like Jack's but painted yellow instead of black. In Ace's eyes, she was the perfect combination of beauty and strength. Naturally, he took the opportunity to approach her and use his sharp tongue to learn more about her and possibly some news from around the area.

Ace looked himself in the mirror and fixed himself up to appear more presentable. He took off his bandana and adjusted his hairstyle. Having curly hair wasn't easy, even if it was short. He smiled back at his reflection and gave it a wink. He looked ready to make his move.

He tossed the pants aside and slowly walked towards the blonde. He cleared his throat and raised an eyebrow to get that trademarked "seductive expression" as he called it. Although, one thing that he couldn't stop wondering about was where he had seen her before. Little did he know that the blonde was the now infamous Yang Xiao Long.

"Hey~ Picking out a dress?" The jovial dude asked the blonde.

"Yes. Do you work here?" She replied.

"Not really, you seem to have your hands full. Need some help with that?"

"Well, my friend is the one trying these dresses. But it looks like she can't find one she likes." Ace felt like he could relate right now.

"Is that so? I assume it's for the New White Fang Gala, right?"

"Yeah. At first, I thought I wouldn't go, but I ended up getting dragged along." She said as if something was bothering her.

"Not a fan of parties, huh?" Ace asked, but Yang kept quiet. As Ace looked at her closely, he could see glimmers of yellow. Aura is typically quite saturated, but this one was quite dull. This usually happens to Huntsmen going through rehabs or crises. It's one of the first telltale signs of depression in Huntsmen. A dull Aura, which Ace estimated it probably wasn't a good time to make a move.

Before he could go anywhere else and leave her be, he felt a menacing aura coming from the men's section.

"ACE!" He heard his name being called with the boom of a lightning bolt. "What took you so long? Is it that hard to find a pair of pants!?"

"Well, you see, funny story…" He tried to excuse himself, but Quinn wasn't buying anything he was saying. The big guy noticed the blonde girl standing next to Ace. He was unamused. Just by looking at her, he could tell what was going through the happy fool's mind.

"Please, don't bother…" Quinn sighed, his blood boiling from rage. Things just couldn't get any worse for him.

One of the curtains from the women's fitting rooms opened, a girl with white hair clad in some very classy clothes stepped out. "Hey, Yang. Could you find me a…? You!" Her sight focused on Quinn. She looked quite upset. He wasn't happy to see her either.

"You have to be kidding me… First, I can't find a good tux, and now I have to look at your face again." Quinn growled.

"I didn't know they allowed barbarians into this store."

"How curious, I expected a Snowflake like you had better taste than this." Quinn's comment only got him a disdained glare from the girl. "By the way, do you still have that weapon oil that you stole from me the other day?"

"I didn't steal it! You walked away right after busting that weapon part I was about to buy!"

"You should thank me for that! You almost got scammed!" There was no stop as when they started throwing insults at one another. Yang and Ace felt like they were watching two dogs barking at each other. Yang was starting to lose her cool. The yelling wasn't very pleasant. Ace noticed the blonde's distress and decided to intervene. He knew exactly how to make them stop.

"Yo, Quinn. Are you gonna take Dana for a dance at the gala?"

"SCREW YOU, ACE! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU!?" The big buy shifted his anger towards his teammate.

"That was easy." Yang looked in amazement at just how quickly he handled the situation.

"You would be surprised how often this happens." Ace sighed in relief. "So, you know each other?" He asked.

"Yeah, you could say that. Snowflake right here doesn't know the difference between good quality steel and rusted scrap metal."

"Stop calling me that!" The white-haired girl replied while trying to keep her composure. "And I refuse to get into this argument again, you ape!"

"Chill out, Weiss. Nobody wants to argue with you." Yang shrugged. Bulbs in Ace's head lit up when he heard her name.

"Weiss… Why's that ringing a bell…?" Quinn murmured.

"Hold on a sec. Weiss, as 'Weiss Schnee?' Specialist Winter Schnee's younger sister!?" Ace reacted wildly to the reveal.

"And don't forget heiress of Schnee Dust Company." Yang remarked.

"FORMER heiress…" Weiss corrected the blonde. Both men felt their skin go pale, and a shiver run down their spines.

"Well, umm, it was nice to meet you, but I just remembered that we forgot to buy some dog food." Ace said nervously as Quinn rushed out of the store without saying a word. He followed the big guy at a faster pace while the girls looked at one another in confusion. Weiss started thinking.

"What was their deal?" Yang asked, but Weiss was lost in thought. "Something wrong?"

"One of those guys. Did he say his name was Ace?" She asked.

"I heard it too. Don't tell me it's love at first sight~"

"Of course not!" Weiss said with a rectified look. "It's just… I'm sure I've heard that name back in Atlas."


	9. Sweet Home IV

**Disclaimer: RWBY Characters, places and terminologies with the exception of the Original Characters, belongs to Rooster Teeth Productions.**

* * *

"Are you sure about it?"

"100% of what I said." Ace told Jack as they, Quinn, and Lucy were at the house done cleaning. "I mean, you know what this means?"

"We are screwed, alright? Fricking screwed!" Quinn started stomping ad kicking the trash on the floor.

"What are we going to do?" Lucy asked.

"It is too soon to speak. We must wait for Diamo first before starting to discuss this thoroughly." The composed leader tried to reassure everyone. However, he sat on a chair while looking at the ceiling. He sighed and rubbed his eyes as he reflected on the situation. Minutes later, Diamo opened the front door, which everyone focused on him.

"Speaking of the devil…" Quinn commented. "What took you so long, Four Eyes!?"

"I had to finish a couple of things for the gala. Dana went somewhere else, so I decided to head here first. Did something occur in my absence?" The man with glasses said as he tried to comprehend their worried expressions.

"We, uh, may have a little problem." Ace said nervously.

"How 'little' are you referring to?"

"Oh, you know, an itty-bitty one, tiny, minuscule, microscopic, probably you won't notice it…"

"Just tell him already, dumbass!" Quinn smacked Ace on the head.

"Calm down, Q. I will tell him instead." Jack stood up and looked Diamo directly with a stern face. "Do you know who Weiss Schnee is, right?"

"I do. Shes Winter Schnee's younger sister and heiress of SDC. Why asking that?"

"She is here, at Mistral." Their leader said with a straight face. Diamo's reaction wasn't any better than the rest. He took off his glasses, hoping that he wasn't imagining. "That's right, and there's more."

"She isn't alone." Quinn said as he pulled his Scroll, showing an article to Diamo. "Her team is here too. I had to make some background check on the news because I found it odd that someone like her could appear in this city so casually." The big guy sat on the floor while trying to take a deep breath. "She and the rest of Team RWBY took part in the Attack at Haven Academy days prior by defending it."

"Team RWBY… weren't the Beacon students that participated at the Vytal Tournament?" Diamo asked.

"Yup, and not just that. We bumped at the clothing store with one of her teammates, the gorgeous blond named Yang Xiao Long." Ace interjected.

"You know, the chick that broke that chump's leg after winning the match?" Quinn scoffed. "Damn, blondie. She had to ruin a perfect victory."

"In any case, our bigger issue isn't that team, but the possibility that Winter might be somewhere at Mistral." Jack said.

"Which, mind you, the Ice Queen herself might arrest us and take us back to that stupid rock!" Quinn's words felt heavier than iron, as everyone was very aware of the consequences.

"Hold on a sec… didn't you said that all Atlasian personnel returned to HQ while closing the borders when you escaped from that prison?" Diamo asked as he wiped his glasses.

"He did, partner. But not everyone since I heard a few of them is staying at Argus protecting the border, especially after what happened at Haven." Ace took his bandana off as he chuckled. "You know, I feel pity for those guys."

"What makes you say that?" Lucy asked.

"Caroline Cordovin is there too. Nobody, not even Pops, can tolerate her."

"That old hag? Nah, I don't feel bad for those saps." Everyone nodded at Quinn's comment.

"Still…" Diamo asked Jack. "Do we have any clue if Winter is at Mistral?"

"That is something we aren't sure." The cowboy crossed his arms. "However, if her younger sister is here, then there must be a reason. I doubt she could fly and cross the border by herself without drawing attention."

"Well, her team is here too… Aww, man, I couldn't ask her directly since we left the store in fear."

"That shouldn't be necessary, Ace." Jack said.

"Are you sure, bro? That seemed like the perfect opportunity, although my charm wouldn't work with a Schnee."

"Taking such a direct approach could make matters worse. We need to confirm if Winter still stationed before trying to skip Mistral."

"And how exactly do you expect us to get intel without getting near her or her team? Huh?" Quinn raised an eyebrow.

"The gala…" Diamo murmured.

"Say what?"

"The White Fang Gala. Every citizen will attend because it is an open event." Everyone started staring at the guy with glasses with shock.

"Are you fricking nuts!?" The big guy was the first to with his usual tone. "Are you serious about going there…!? Oh, I get it. You are now patronizing your job, aren't you?"

"That's not it." Lucy said. "If everyone is going to show up, then the chances to gather information will increase."

"Hah! I knew you we could count on you, partner!" Ace stood up and gave a pat on the Diamo's back, which he almost dropped his glasses.

"But there's the possibility that Weiss might show up as well since Winter isn't fond of that kind of event. And we don't want to get close to them." Jack lowered his head as he got lost in thought.

"I mean, it is a given since she was trying so many dresses at that store."

"So what? Are we really, REALLY, going to that crappy event?" Quinn looked at Ace, wondering about the plan.

"I guess that is the only way that can make us feel at ease." Jack stood up and looked at his team with determined e. "If this the case, we must go. I know we don't have to go, but we can't run the risk of doing something stupid while Winter or any other Atlasian soldier is still here."

"Alright! If we are going to the party, we must find ourselves some nice tuxes again at a different store. Do wanna you go with us?" Ace asked Jack and Diamo.

"It won't be necessary, Ace." Diamo said with a hand gesture. "They are going to provide us with waiter uniforms for the event."

"What about you, bro?"

"You can go ahead; I have to do something else first." Their leader stood up as he looked at his team with the usually stern face. "Everyone, move on." As the team meeting was over, Ace and Quinn left the house to head back to the clothing store as they weren't done finding a tux that could fit the big guy. Diamo went to one of the rooms and look for his belongings. Jack and Lucy were left alone in the living room, as Saber was still sleeping.

"So, what are you going to do?" Lucy asked.

"We need to go to your father's house."

"For what exactly you need from him?" The redhead girl wondered.

"I know that your father had done a lot for us, but I want to ask him if he has a suit that could lend me."

"You know you could go with the others to rent a tux as well."

"After hearing knowing that Schnee girl is here, I don't want to attract too much attention."

"Is that it?" Lucy sounded skeptical, which the cowboy hesitated to answer.

"M-Maybe…" Jack said as he covered his embarrassed face with his hat. Lucy chuckled as she found it funny and cute of how he tried to act cool.

"Alright, we should go and see him." Jack went to the front door while Lucy knocked on the door from the room where Diamo was. She waited a couple of minutes until he opened.

"Yes, is there something you need?" He asked.

"Hey, could you do us a favor? Could you look for the house and Saber while Jack and I go to my father's home? Also, the landlord will come sometime later to check how clean the place we left it."

"Sure thing. Take care of yourselves." Diamo said before he closed the door. Direct and straightforward, as usual. The couple left the house as they pet their dog.

They went through the usual route on the from the Arts & Entertainment District to the Market District while avoiding contact with other people. The distance between both houses was relatively long, and for them felt like an eternity to get there. Lucy wondered how her father could live peacefully with so many people in the area. That didn't matter much as they were approaching.

It was 6:03 pm, it was at that time that where Dr. Carmine was done with consults and focused on his research. He was a man that the rest of the world became quiet. His whole life, stories, experiences were accumulating in that little house. Memories of his youth, his love and joy reside there. Even the grief and sadness were part of it but slowly shaped his home. Also, living alone and disconnected from the outside, he still aware of the people's issues.

At the front door, Lucy took out one of her keys to open it. She knew very well that knocking wouldn't be useful since he tends to be way too focus even to listen. She slowly opened it, so see how the place was when she left that morning. The living room was clean, but the couple could spot some of the dirty dishes and open cookie packages lying around. Certain habits never change.

"I can't believe it." Lucy disapprovingly said.

"Should we…?"

"Don't bother, let's just ask him already." The couple went to Dr. Carmine's study room as it is his own 'man cave' for the rest of the day. The redhead was grateful that she cleaned beforehand as due to papers were blocking the way days ago. At the end of the hall, there was a door with a sign saying "BUSY" with big red letters.

"Dad, do you have a moment?" She knocked on the door and waited for a response. There was silence. "Hey, are you there?" No response.

"Is he asleep?" Jack asked.

"No way. There are times where he went all-nighter." She started to twist the doorknob, already unlocked. They pushed it while a small gap as they started seeing the messy room. Lucy didn't bother in cleaning there. It would be impossible to keep it neat and tidy. As they finally had a better look in the study room, her father didn't seem anywhere around. "Where that weird old man could be now?"

"Do you think he left the house?"

"Nah, never steps out even if his life depends on it. The only times he ever does that are either food or travel to Atlas. He has plenty of food in the kitchen, so I doubt it is either option. I wonder where he is up to now…" As she asked herself, they started hearing noises, as if someone tapped on the wooden floor. "Dad?"

"Lucy, behind the desk." The cowboy pointed at the room's corner, where the desk was moving. He went ahead of his girlfriend, just in case of anything as he looked for what behind. As he peeked from the higher angle, he saw Dr. Carmine's body lying on the ground. "What the…!?"

"Dad!" Lucy yelled in terror.

"What…? Oww!" Her father reacted rather violently as he hit his head under the desk. "What? Is something wrong, Firefly?" He asked with a confused face.

"What do you mean by what's wrong!? I called you, and you didn't respond!" Lucy's voice rose to the point that her throat could hurt. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before continuing. "Tell me, what were you doing under the desk?"

"Me? Nothing, nothing at all, just picking up the pen that I dropped it." He began acting oddly as if in denial, but both the couple felt in relief as he was fine after all. "What about you? Do you need anything?"

"I do actually," Jack said. "Do you have a suit that you could lend me? We are going to a gala tomorrow, and looking for one around might not give me enough time."

"Oh? A suit? I might have one that probably I used once when I was younger."

"Just once?" Lucy asked.

"Maybe when I was for conferences or other events that I'm not interested in attending. You can look for it at my bedroom's closet. Hopefully, it is still clean, though."

"Aright, I will go look for it." Lucy said while heading out of the study room.

"Wait a sec." Dr. Carmine called for her before making her exit.

"What's the matter?"

"I think Jackie-boy should look for it."

"Why?"

"Just… men stuff, you know?"

"I don't want know." Lucy shrugged as Jack walked out, leaving those two alone. The good doctor tried to look at the cowboy walking away.

"Is he gone? Good, I want to show you something."

"Show me what? What is it that you don't want him being around?" The redhead started questioning her father's suspicious behavior.

"Will you promise me you won't tell him anything about what I'm about to show you?" Lawrence asked as he looked at his daughter's eyes. She nodded. "Great. Give me a moment." He started opening some of the shelves from his desk and unrolling blueprints over it. The doctor could hardly contain his excitement as he showed very detailed diagrams and information to Lucy.

"What is this?"

"This, my child, this is the future of medicine." He pulled a notebook with too many bookmarks and doodles in it. "For years, I have been studying the traumatic effects after losing limbs in battle. What kind of sensations was at the moment? Even if some people can still feel their arm or leg, even if it is no longer there."

"You mean…?"

"That's right, Firefly, what if we can get artificial skins for prosthetics?" His voice was full of joy that might sound like a child. "Thanks to my patients, I was able to come up with the idea of bringing a future for Huntsmen that want to feel again, after tragedies."

"This is incredible! This could be the biggest discovery on medicine and robotics!"

"Yeah, it wouldn't be without your boyfriend's help."

"What makes Jack important in this?"

"Well, you can say that to make artificial skin, it depends on the blood type to make it functional. Wouldn't you find it odd that a psychiatrist would ask for blood type to all his patients? Jack's Negative AB is quite rare, but it has such an interesting effect back when we installed his arm for the first time. I worked with a lot of people with the same problem as him, but the results tend to vary since not all prosthetic limbs can function at the first try. However, my latest patient, Miss Xiao Long, proved to me that people with strong Aura could also make it work without much effort."

"That's a lot to take for your research." Lucy tried to keep up with her father's info.

"Indeed, but I still need her to open up more about herself if I want more progress. If things go well, I will able to make a patent and call Pietro to start developing it together at Atlas in a few months." He chuckled. "And for the prototype, I would like Jack to be the first person to test it through and through."

"That's… That's amazing! But are you sure you want Jack to test it first instead of any other person?" Lucy's voice couldn't hold the surprise of her father's choice.

"What can I say? Doesn't he deserve the honor for once in his life? That is why I want you to keep it quiet as I want to surprise him with that when it's ready."

"Thanks, Dad. You are, without a doubt, the best in Remnant." Lucy started hugging him while kissing his forehead.

"No problem, I'm sure he will like it too. I hope you don't go far with whatever you are doing privately. Hehehe…" To what appeared a warm moment got cut short when the redhead smacked him in the head. She started to blush and covered her face. "Ah come on, you aren't a girl anymore."

"You don't know how to behave, old man?" As both started laughing, they heard Jack approaching, which Dr. Carmine began to put everything away before he sees it. The cowboy opened the door with the suit on his hand. "Oh, hey, does fit you?"

"Not really, its size is a little bigger for me. I might need a needle and string to adjust." Jack said as he showed the jacket.

"Why you don't take it with a tailor?" Dr. Carmine asked.

"They won't have it ready for the next day. It might be faster if I do it myself."

"I guess that's the perk of being the son of a tailor." Lucy chuckled.

"There's no regret of helping my mother for years."

"I should look for a dress for myself as well." Lucy walked out of the room alongside Jack, leaving Dr. Carmine alone in his study room. He looked at the couple being far enough to close the door. He went back to his desk and moved the chair out his way as he crouched underneath.

On the wooden floor, he started taking off small planks until revealing a box in a hole. The box was small that could fit inside any of the shelves, and it was dirty as if no one touched it in a decade. The old doctor opened it, revealing its content: a golden bracelet, envelops, a pocket-sized book, and a photograph. He picked the picture carefully and began gazing at it if his soul was in it.

"Our baby is a grown-up woman now. Wouldn't you feel proud too as well, dear?" Dr. Carmine smiled as he let a tear fell on the picture.

* * *

"Curious…" Weiss murmured as she looked at a public computer at a CCT Café. She went there an hour ago after she was done looking for a dress with Yang. The sophisticated girl spent the time browsing information about that guy back at that clothing store. Ace… That name was bugging her and sounded familiar, but she couldn't pin it from where exactly aside of Atlas. Was he someone famous? Was the son of an aristocrat? Or part of the military? Whichever she heard from, it didn't feel right.

"Where could it be?" Among the files or news on the computer, she couldn't access anything from Atlas or other kingdoms due to the troublesome connection. She only could access local news.

"Weiss?"

"Ahh!" She jumped as someone touched her shoulder from behind. "Blake? What are you doing here!"

"I saw you coming here after I was done eating ramen. What are you doing here?"

"N-Nothing, just getting informed." Weiss kept focusing on the monitor while still browsing.

"Informed about what?"

"Any news about Atlas, I couldn't find any after I left home."

"You know you won't get any updates since the Beacon's CCT Tower was destroyed."

"I know, but people tend to travel a lot and carry whatever news the rest of Remnant have." Weiss' frustration was rising the longer couldn't find anything she was looking for, except one thing. "Speaking of updates, I noticed that people went missing on recent news. Huntsmen aren't the only thing in the list."

"Yeah, I heard a lot from people in the streets and Sun's team. I thought Headmaster Leo's actions were bad enough after the attack. I guess Mistral never takes a break."

"Not so different when we had to deal with Torchwick back at Vale. Every kingdom has its share of daily problems, but I find it weird that such things are still happening after the incident at Haven."

"I know…" Both girls sighed. "Just to change of topic, did you find a dress for tomorrow?"

"I did, it might not be as elegant as Atlas brands, but I couldn't care much since I'm no longer attending a party to look just pretty." Weiss gave a weak smile as she remembered the last time she attended a formal event and caused a commotion, which led her here in the first place. "Anyway, how about we go back home. It's been a long day for me."

"Agreed, all the work for the gala almost left me dead." Weiss turned the computer off and left the café with Blake. It might be better to continue investigating early before the party.

* * *

Later that night, Sal was sitting on the ground while taking notes of the missing people. No leads as there are no traces left aside of the fact of the list kept growing. It was a dead-end, not even clues of what happened to Roger Davis days ago. But one thing that Sal wondered but couldn't understand was about Davis' contact from Mistral. His last entries mentioned someone but never specified names. It would be a matter of time until he could know who that person was.

Out of the blue, the Scroll started ringing. Sal looked to see who was calling but had a private number in the ID caller. Who could it be? It took so long for someone trying to contact at Davis' Scroll. If the man in white wanted answers, he had not many choices except answer it. He pressed the green button.

 _"You better have a good answer. I know you aren't Roger Davis."_

"Who are you?" Sal asked the person. He couldn't recognize the voice as the caller distorted its voice.

 _"Sorry, but I'm the only one allowed to make a question. You better play nice because the Scroll you are holding next to your ear has a bomb installed. Answer wrong or get on my nerves, and it will be time to say goodbye."_

"Alright, take your questions..." Sal said with serious eyes.

 _"Good, we understand each other. First and for most, I know you are staying at his house. I have been watching you for the last couple of days since the Scroll has a tracker. I saw you in bad shape, and the girl in red helped you get there. Even if you throw the device away and try to, you won't go anywhere. So, here is my first question, what did you do to him?"_

"That's something I would like to know as well. I found him lying dead outside of the walls when I regained consciousness. A pair of Boarbatusks was beating his corpse."

 _"Outside of the walls? No wonder I couldn't track him, the signal was getting weak the farther you are from the city. How can I believe your word the fact that you didn't kill him, actually?"_

"Simple, I don't spill blood from other people that aren't my target." He sounded sure of his answer.

 _"Is that so? Because from where I been looking at your appearance, you look like a Huntsman or assassin."_

"I'm neither, just to make it clear."

 _"Someone covered in bandages doesn't exactly inspire friendliness, you know. I'm more surprised that girl with a red hood wasn't scared of you, and what you look under that mask."_

"Take it as you will."

 _"Alright, my next question is how you were able to get access to the Scroll's content. No, scratch that, I know that Davis didn't disable the finger scan if you found him dead. The real question is about how much you learned from his files."_

"Enough that something is wrong at Mistral, and Sheriff Leng might have something to."

 _"I see. I suppose you aren't that behind. But Sheriff Leng? That is new info I didn't expect to get after being stale. Too bad, Davis couldn't tell me sooner."_

"Which, by the way, I couldn't stop being curious about the part you mentioned the bomb installed in this Scroll. Why took you so long to call me or even detonate it if you knew I wasn't him?"

 _"Well, aren't you clever? I needed to confirm before choosing since you don't appear as someone that would try anything stupid, especially injured. Watching you from a distance and inspecting your actions would be enough before making you explode. However, that girl kept coming back and I wouldn't risk someone's else life."_

"I guess I should thank you for that, the apple pie she brought me was probably the best thing I ever ate in the past months."

 _"If you truly want to eat better food, I have an offer for you since we're now at the same wavelength."_

"Which is…?"

 _"Continue where Davis left. I need someone on the field looking for clues around the city and update to me."_

"Desperate? You would sound as someone resourceful if you were able to keep tabs on me for days."

 _"This was an undercover operation. It was just the two of us in the whole city, but the unexpected happened, and limited communication is the biggest issue for a year."_

"If that's the case, I accept the offer to help under one condition." Sal stood up and started looking at the window. "A name. Nothing more than that."

 _"Is that what you want? And who exactly are you looking for?"_

"You don't need it to know. That is a personal thing."

 _"Hmph, you are quite an interesting person. You got your deal. I will send your instructions tomorrow morning. Are you completely healed to start right away?"_

"I am because I think my vacation is over."


	10. It's Party Time

**Disclaimer: RWBY Characters, places and terminologies with the exception of the Original Characters, belongs to Rooster Teeth Productions.**

* * *

 _Dear Mother,_

 _It's been months since my last letter. Three or four from what I can recall, especially the last one I sent you was a bit rushed. I finally arrived at Mistral and got four days so far by the time I'm writing this. Ace, Quinn, and Diamo came as well and got us a house. We don't know how extended our stay will be until solving this issue._

 _I'm sorry that I left you alone once again, and with limited communications, but it is better for your safety. I can't run the risk of involving you with everything. Although, I doubt Atlas would step in that island again after what happened at Vale. You know, one thing I miss about being at home is your cooking. My team tends to annoy me every opportunity when we mention you. Even Diamo admits it despite not liking a lot of things._

 _All I can hope is to come back. I started remembering what my grandpa usually told me when I was younger. He said about always looking for those close to me. It sounds like a no-brainer. But in this type of situation, I'm trying my best here with my team, Saber, and especially Lucy._

 _Until then, use Doctor Carmine's address to reply to me at the moment. I know there's a lot of things from over a year you want to tell me about. I can only wish for things to improve. -Your Son, Jack._

 **Day 4**

The cowboy was busy writing a letter at Lucy's house. It was evening and already in a tuxedo for tonight's Gala. Jack sat in the living room with a piece of paper and a pen in his left hand. There was a pile of tossed documents on the floor, which most of them were full of mistakes, crossed-out words, or even overly long messages.

At that moment, he felt satisfied with the letter he was able to finish it up. Jack still had spare time before heading out, but still had to wait for Lucy until she finishes dressing up. He knew that it might take a while, but not something that he was such in a hurry. His team would be going ahead before the couple anytime soon.

Jack started to examine the jacket he was patching up from all night. It was much more comfortable being precise with the needle thanks to his robotic arm. Such a thing could save him and his mother a lot of money than using a sewing machine for their business, but that could take much time to do so. His tuxedo was like most of them being charcoal black for the jacket, vest, and pants. He wore white gloves so his right hand wouldn't stick too much. The cowboy had the chance of seeing his teammate's attires beforehand.

Ace, being himself, didn't put much effort into looking formal as he only picked the jacket and pants of color green. However, he took a casual t-shirt and tennis shoes instead of a white shirt and formal shoes like most people. Quinn had the most challenging time as what he told Jack, no store in Mistral except the last one had something of his size or durable enough not to tear it apart. One could expect a rant or two from the biggest guy in the team. He only got a purple t-shirt, tie, white pants, but black boots as no shoes could fit him either. Finally, Diamo had the most relaxed time as his employers provided him the classic waiter uniform, which consisted of blue vests, bowtie, the usual white t-shirt, and black pants.

Team JAQK didn't appear to blend well among the other guests, but in Remnant, people had a unique taste of fashion, which Jack wasn't very fond of. No matter how many magazines from famous brand designers he would read, nothing could help him learn that, even when trying to fix clothes.

Bored out of his mind, he pulled his Scroll and pressed the virtual chess app. He looked for matches, but he only could get one from a user he was playing regularly. They have a record of 3-4 on the other player's favor. The limited signal range doesn't bring a lot of variety, but that didn't stop them from having fun.

Let's have a great game. The user sent a message as soon as they started the match. Jack got the black pieces; the only thing he could do was to wait and look at the movements. The cowboy began to react quickly by moving his pawns as well. From that point on, their match sped up as they started on eating each other's pieces in record time. Jack tried to plan his next moves meticulously. King, knight, the queen were the only pieces left for until finishing the match in checkmate.

 _Congratulations!_ The player replied Jack.

'Want to play again?' The cowboy asked.

 _Sorry, but this is our last match._

 _'_ Why you say that?'

 _I have some work to do and probably won't have time to connect._

'Well, good luck with that.' Jack sighed as the other player signed off. "There goes my fun." He commented while looking at the ceiling. He closed his eyes and began to relax while lying on the couch. It was peaceful; no rush, no noises, just him with his thoughts for tonight.

Sadly, peace was short-lived when his Scrolled rang uncontrollably. Jack frowned and looked at who was calling. It was Ace, unsurprisingly.

 _"Yo! Where are you?"_ The cowboy could still hear his chipper voice through the device.

"Still at Lucy's house. She's not ready yet."

 _"Aww, man... Are you serious? Quinn and I are almost arriving at the party."_

"Don't worry about us. Could you turn on the speaker so Quinn can hear me too?" Jack waited a couple of seconds until he could hear more noises. "Can both of you hear me?"

 _"Pretty clear, what is it?"_ The big guy's voice spoke clear, too.

"I want to tell Diamo as a reminder of what we have to do in the event. While there's nothing wrong trying to get fun, you still must focus on gather info while avoiding any member from Team RWBY, especially the Schnee girl. If you ever encounter any of them, try to minimize contact. I don't want things to go haywire."

 _"Don't sweat it, bro. We have our minds 100% into this!"_

 _"Yeah, when you aren't chasing some chick's skirt or wasting time."_ It didn't take too much time before Jack could hear those two guys with the usual routine.

"Alright, calm down, Q. Just remember, just try to hear anything regarding Winter Schnee or any person flying with Atlas' colors."

* * *

"So, when do you think are you going to get here?" Ace asked as he and Quinn walked towards the party.

 _"Probably… an hour or two. I can't say for certain, but hopefully not too late."_

"I feel pity you by dealing that, Jack." Quinn commented.

 _"I love Lucy, but she will make me lose my hair before I reach my 30's."_ Both guys could hear their leader's distress. _"You know what to do. See you there."_ Jack hung up the call.

"Oh boy, no wonder why I'm not ready for commitment." Ace sighed.

"Because you are lazy, that is why." Quinn scoffed

"What about you? Why don't you try to socialize with girls?"

"They are annoying, easily get on my nerves."

"I don't see you with problems when talking with Dana." Ace smirked, which prompted Quinn to stop walking and give a side glare.

"Why don't you take a hike, Ace?" He said with a composed yet furious tone as the big guys kept walking towards the party. They saw different kinds of people gathering at the entrance while being greeted. Some had expensive, neatly bought dresses with shiny jewelry while others barely got shoes without holes or mostly clean shirts. The contrasts among the guests' social classes were absolute.

Due to the differences, it formed into two lines to not cause issues. Something that made Quinn bite his lower lip with enough force that could bleed, but his Semblance wouldn't allow it. Ace patted his back and walked towards the line with people of middle-to-lower class. He began pointing out to the people who were greeting the guests. Both were Faunus giving smiles with various reactions from them.

However, one of them was a girl with black cat ears while the other was a guy with a yellow monkey tail. From their appearance, the girl wore a black dress and heels, looking dressed adequately than the other person who only wore an open shirt, tie, and shorts. That guy could get a run for Ace's money for bad formal attires.

"Oh, shoot…" Ace whispered to Quinn's ear. "That's Blake Belladonna on the door!"

"Just what we needed." The big guy rubbed his eyes and sighed. "At least she's greeting those snobbish clowns. We definitely should take the other line." Both men nodded as they slowly stepped at the entrance. The line they were at moved much faster than the other. Ace wondered if it was because of their impractical attires the rich had.

As the distance became shorter, they could hear the music getting louder and vivid. The jovial guy couldn't resist dancing as he and his teammate stepped in front of the monkey Faunus.

"Welcome to the White Fang Gala! My name is Sun Wukong, and I'm here to help you with anything you need." He smiled while shaking Ace's and Quinn's hands at the same time.

"Hey, hey, thanks!" Ace replied in the same mood. Quinn didn't say anything, only gave a stern look at the Faunus.

"Scary guy, huh?" Sun murmured as he saw them walking inside the party. "Hey, Blake! Do you want me to switch places?"

"It isn't necessary. I can keep going until my parents switch places for us later." She said without losing focus. Both Faunus continued with their task as the night was still young.

"Hi, here's drinks. Enjoy the party." Inside the place, Dana stood and greeted the guests who arrived with a plate full of cups of wine. She tried to force her best smile, but it proved to be too much effort and draining than her current task. "Ugh… what a slog. Huh?"

"Yo, Dana!" Ace said with his usual smile.

"What are you guys doing?" The waitress Faunus asked.

"We heard from your brother that he is working tonight. Minus well, giving him some moral support and get some fun at the same time." Ace excused while moving at the music's rhythm. Both Dana and Quinn rolled their eyes.

"Do you know where he is?" Quinn asked.

"He is helping in the kitchen. At this point, anything is better than standing here doing nothing." Dana sighed as she barely could stand straight.

"Don't mind if I go around. Send me a signal if you need me." Ace went further into the party with a slow walk, something that made him look a bit childish.

"Hey, hold on a sec… damn idiot." Quinn murmured as he could stop the other guy from acting like that.

"What's with the face? You seem uncomfortable with the ambient." The waitress could unmistakably read the big guy's expression, although it wasn't too tricky as anyone could notice it right away.

"You bet it. All those sharp-dressed and so disgustingly butt-kissing guys are attending to this event trying to pretend that they support the cause." Quinn snorted. "Bleh, just looking at them makes me puke."

"That makes us two. I still remember vising you at Atlas two years ago, and it is unbelievable bad there."

"And probably worse right now. All those fools have their heads in the clouds." Quinn slowly looked everyone until his eyes redirected towards the chandelier. So many bright lights, so many voices that began to override his mind with stress. He felt very unwelcome yet not too unfamiliar. The waitress took the last cup and showed it in front of his eyes.

"Want it? You can drink it if that makes you feel better." She said with a witty tone.

"Mhhh… thanks. It won't do much to waste me anyway." He gave a weak smile as he gently took the cup and drank it, trying to savor it. So far, the wine he tasted was too faint even to differentiate it from tap water. "Ugh, wine from Argus… just exactly what we need."

"Oh? You can tell by just tasting it?" Dana said with surprise.

"Sure thing. Who's the genius of choosing this thing? Don't tell me was that chicken guy because he knows better than this crap!"

"Excuse me, sir. Atlas closed their borders so we couldn't import better wines for today." Dana said as she walked towards the kitchen. She stopped briefly and turned her head towards Quinn. "You know, I could get you a bottle of a better brand from Haven's secret stash if you want."

"Nah, I'm fine. You already got enough in your hands at the moment. I rather see what I do before getting a migraine."

"Alright, I hope you find some enjoyment out of this place. Call me if you want anything else." Dana winked as she turned back and walked straight to the kitchen. The big guy grimaced while looking at the other guests. He couldn't see Weiss Schnee anywhere. Chances were that she hadn't arrived yet. Quinn put the empty glass on the table before cracking his knuckles and neck, getting ready to look for intel.

* * *

"Hurry up, Ruby! We are already late for it!"

"Coming!" The young leader replied from upstairs while Weiss was waiting at the door by impatiently tapping her foot on the floor. Qrow was lying on the couch with a tired look and his canteen on hand as usual. The usual thing.

"I can't believe it, we had the whole day to dress up, and you just forgot." The former heiress sighed as she rubbed her eyes out of annoyance.

"Could you relax? The night is still young, and I don't think the party will crash if the Schnee isn't attending." Qrow yawned.

"Excuse me, but punctuality is always important. I guess Ruby truly got that from you."

"Hey, hey, I never cared for things like that in my life." Qrow took another sip of his drink. "By the way, why did you bring a tux for Oscar? I doubt he or even Ozpin would be interested in going at the moment."

"Ruby and I, well, mostly Ruby, planned to get everyone to enjoy the party because it's been a long time since we were together. Oscar could at least experience this for once, and better that isn't Atlas."

"Is Yang already out?" Qrow spread his legs on top of the table while feeling comfortable.

"She went ahead with Ren, Nora, Jaune already. We were supposed to go together, but guess who forgot that part?" Weiss grimaced until they heard footsteps coming from the stairs. Ruby wore a black dress with a pattern of red roses. Design-wise seemed similar to the one she wore during Beacon's Dance Party. Weiss and Qrow looked at her with impressed eyes.

"How do I look?" Ruby asked.

"Not bad at all, people might fall for you on the dance floor." Qrow complimented as he gave a thumbs up.

"Thanks, Uncle. And what about you?" She shifted towards Weiss.

"Acceptable, comparing to the usual dresses you choose." The girl in white replied with folded arms.

"That's… nice of you? I had to find one at the last minute. I would usually have to make myself, but not enough time right now from scratch."

"Who taught you to design your clothes, anyway?"

"Ah, just a nice lady who works as a tailor back at home. At least, when she had free time." Ruby gave an innocent smile, much to Weiss chagrin.

"Oh, that explains so much…"

"What do you mean by that!?"

"Never mind…" Weiss shook her head. "So, are we ready to go?"

"Only Oscar is left. Are you sure you are not going, Uncle Qrow?" Ruby asked.

"Me? Nah, you kids go get fun, I'm just going to take a nap." The veteran huntsman yawned before falling dead sleep as he took a cushion pillow under his head. He began snoring, too loud that both girls found it already annoying.

"Ugh… just, I hope she is done already so we can go." Weiss gave a disappointed look at Qrow.

"He's been out of the house for a while. The little he told me that he's been investigating something but didn't want me to say much about it." Ruby picked up a blanket to put on top of her sleeping uncle.

"Unbelievable, even after that incident at Haven Academy, the list of problems never ends." Weiss shook her head before looking at the clock on the wall. "Good grief! We are going to be late!"

"I'll look for Oscar!" Ruby rushed upstairs while leaving her usual trace of rose petals behind. She knocked his room to see if he was ready, but no response. "Oscar… is everything alright?"

"Just a moment! Almost done!" The farm boy shouted as he sounded that struggled with something.

"Do you need help with something?"

"It's fine… Okay, maybe with one thing."

"What is it?"

"Could you enter, please?" Ruby slowly opened the door, only to see Oscar standing in front of a mirror, trying to wear a bow tie.

 _"Remember, start from up and wrap it around 'till the center."_ Ozpin's voice sounded patient, yet tired inside Oscar's head.

"Why don't you possess me to do it yourself? Wouldn't be much easier?"

 _"You have to learn how to, sooner or later."_

"I don't think today is appropriate to learn at the last minute." Oscar commented as he turned his head towards Ruby. "Do you know how to do this?"

"Sure thing, that's easy." Ruby began to hold the bow tie, carefully tying it without difficulty.

"I'm surprised that you can do it without a hitch." Oscar said with amazement.

"Already had some practice as Uncle Qrow never liked to learn how to do. Same thing with my dad." She started remembering the good times, at least, when the very few ones she could recall. "Tell me, what exactly is your home there?"

"Me? Well, just me and my aunt. Hard to say exactly how close we are since we spent the whole day working until night." Oscar sighed.

"What about your parents?"

"I don't remember much about them… Sorry, I guess my life isn't interesting compared to everyone."

"Don't worry. Maybe some other time." Ruby finished tying his bow tie. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah." The teenagers left the room, ready for tonight's Gala.

* * *

"Take you for coming, please this way." Sun greeted an elderly couple. An hour already passed, but for him, it felt like an eternity since people kept coming the minute the party started. "Oh man, never thought this would be exhausting. How are you feeling, Blake?"

"I'm fine, didn't expect these many guests." Blake leaned against the wall to catch her breath.

"Good thing that there's no more at the moment."

"Mind if I take care of this by myself?"

"Are you sure? I don't want to leave you alone in this."

"Nah, go and have some fun, I don't think anyone would mind since the place is packed." Sun gave the thumbs up, encouraging Blake to go inside without worries. Despite now being lonely outside, missing the fun alongside his team, he didn't mind at all after finally being in peace. Sun saw another couple coming for the Gala. It was easy to notice due to their formal clothes. "Thank you for coming. Please, come in and enjoy the night!"

"Thanks for the hospitality." The guest, who was a teenager with a stern look, tried to greet Sun by giving a hand gesture similar to tipping a hat but had nothing and retracted himself. "Never mind…" He awkwardly said while entering to the party while his date grabbed his left arm.

"What was that, Jack?" She asked.

"Sorry, Lucy. Just the habit." Jack said with some embarrassment in his tone of voice.

"Well, now we are here. Shall we start?"

"Remember, we are blending while gathering information. Always keeping this low profile."

"You can say that." Lucy said with a smug. "However, tonight, you are mine." She began pulling the cowboy further into the Gala.


End file.
